Customer Reviews

Java Programming for Dummies

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

The title of the book says it all. I was a dummy to buy this book. If you want to learn Java, this book is not for you. I good ground-level book is "Teach Yourself Java" by Joseph O'Neil. A good 2nd book is "Just Java" by Peter van der Linden.

I had high hopes for this book, after flicking through a lot of the Java books in the bookstore, this one really appealed to me because of the large text and nice diagrams. And while the book was pleasently easy to understand (most of the time), it just doesn't flow very well. I found that around page 130-140 I was finding out the stuff I was wanting to know within the first few pages. They also throw in a chapter on HTML in the most inappropriate place. This book seems VERY rushed, and this is obvious from the large number of errors. I was stuck on my code for a number of hours, before I got help from someone on IRC... they were like "uhh WHY does Switch always have a capital S?" and I replied "because this stupid book told me to *sigh*. Even the bonus pull-out "cheat sheet" that summarizes the whole book has at least one missing semi-colon. Trust me, get something a bit more... concise.

Java Programming for Dummies is probably one of the most ambitious books in the Dummies series. The book gives an excellent introduction to Java programming, mainly covering web applet programming.

The writing style of the authors, Donald J. Koosis and David Koosis, perhaps isn't as funny as those of other Dummies-writers, but what they lack in the joke department is weighed up by nice and easy-to-read explanations of difficult subjects. They have concentrated most of the text on how to program web applets, a wise choice considering this is an introductury text on Java programming.

Even though this is a book for the absolute beginner in Java programming, the subjects are so well and thoroughly explained that the book can be used as a reference later on! My only complaint is that the book's covers should specify that the reader should have at least some programming experience. I soon understood that without my sparse knowledge of Visual Basic, I wouldn't have understood the programming concepts as fast as I did. Perhaps this shows that Java programming isn't suitble for Dummies right away. But this book makes Java programming understandable for us dummies too!

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This book is a prime example of a 'deadline' that had to be met (during it's production).

It's an obvious attempt to get the book quickly on to circulation in order keep up with other competitors, rather than understand the psychology of a 'novice' programmer.......................... (Looks to me it relied too much on the success/reputation of previous 'DUMMIES' books).

If you're learning to swim.. you'll suddenly find yourself in the deep end... & drown (without warning)!

If you currently lack confidence in your programming ability... you'll be lacking more after this.

Rather than seeking knowledge... you'll be FIGHTING IRRITATION !

Recommendation : 'Beginning Java' (by Ivor Horton) - fully restored my confidence.

If you don't know how to program and you don't know Java, don't buy this book. Even though it says it's for "dummies" and explicitly says you don't have to be a programmer to use it, you do. The authors very clearly show you how to write the code, and then tell you it must be compiled. But they don't tell you how to compile it. I've combed the book, the appendix, the text covering what's on the CD-ROM, and the readme material on the CD-ROM. Nothing. Worse, I shelled out for the book as half of the two-volume Java 2 Toolkit for Dummies set. The simpler book, Java for Dummies, doesn't explain compiling, either, because it isn't about programming, but I checked. Java Programming for Dummies - 3rd edition, no less - says in its introduction that it's for people who "know a bit of HTML" and "may have written some macros." I can build an HTML page and I can record and alter MS Office macros, but I haven't a clue about how to compile code. A 90-day version of a Java writing-and-editing program called JBuilder is on the CD-ROM, but I've seen JBuilder, and it isn't simple to learn, particularly if you only have help files from the CD-ROM to consult. Besides, you shouldn't have to learn how to use a software program before you can begin to use a beginners book. I can't DO anything now, except go buy another book that actually explains how to write and use a Java program. The book also suffers from sloppy copy editing, usually just an annoyance, but in a beginners' book, a hazard. For example, it refers to Appendix A for instructions about the CD-ROM. There is no Appendix A. If you don't think that's a problem, remember what a snipe hunt is like for the victim.

Wow, this book was just downright horrible. After being extremely pleased with HTML for Dummies, I figured this would be of the some calibur. I couldn't have been any more wrong. The first 3 chapters are a nice introduction to the language but I don't think I ever made it through chapter 4; they throw everything at you within a matter of pages and expect you to understand it all. There are much better books out there.

I've never been able to read a book and learn. I've always had to goto a class and pay a lot of money to have someone teach me. For me, just reading a book doesnt help, until I starting reading this book. I've read the previous reviews and quite shocked at some of the responses, especially about the "not finding what I was looking for until the page 130". I thought 'Dummies' books were to start from the basic and work from there. I thought they were suppose to teach you as if you didnt know anything about the language. This book does that. It's the only book I've been able to read without yawning in boredom and getting next to nothing out of it. I'm very impressed with Java and I think David Koosis did an excellent job with this book, especially for someone who doesnt know much about Java programming. -Greg

The book starts off okay. You get your feet wet with a simple 'Hello World' example. But then the book jumps into Sprites and Javabots and other relatively complex material. It expects you to swim before you can tread water. Sorely lacking are concise explanations of what the code is actually doing, and how to get from point A to point B. Don't bother with this book.

You'd think by the third edition that the authors and editors would manage to get the simple, introductory program in the book right. I mean, after all, that's the first exposure we dummies have with Java. But NO. The first program won't compile as shown on the page, or the second or the third. Fortunately, the corresponding programs on the CD work - but they often contain changes that aren't explained in the text. Aside from that, I concur with other comments about the poor organization and design of the book. One good thing I can say is that it focuses on flashy applets, which makes learning more enjoyable.

Will someone please write a good introductory beginner's book for Java?

Although this book is for beginners, it is very problematic. I think the publishing company farmed this project out to a developer without telling this person that the book was for beginners. The book starts out with a good primer of object oriented principles but then jumps into advanced stuff such as creating listeners. It does not lay out the lesson plans well the little cartoon graphics are supremely annoying. Other books in this series have been pretty helpful but this one is a bit of a disaster. If anyone finds a good introductory text for Java programming, please let me know.