Customer Reviews

The Java(TM) Class Libraries: Supplement for the Java(TM) 2 Platform, v1.2; Parts A and B(Volume 1, Standard Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you could design your own Java reference series, what would you include? How about:

- An plain English explanation of each class and method.
- Sample code for every class and method.
- Intelligent organization that enables you to find a given class or method quickly.
- A comprehensive, well-organized index that thinks like you do.

This summarizes the content of this book and the other two in the series and explains why they are the three books I wouldn't dream of programming in Java without. (I've been a professional Java developer since 1996.) Buy the book and make your life easier.

As a beginning Java Programmer, I was looking for a reference for all the java packages. This book contains all objects which changed since the JDK 1.1. I continue to use it daily. The one dissapointment I had, was my own missunderstanding of the nature of the book. As the title implies this is a supplement, if you want a complete reference you must buy the vol 1 and 2 of the java reference. The index in this book will refer you to the other volumns for an object which did not change in 1.2. The organization is well thought out and the coding examples are helpful to me as a beginner. The completeness and index make this a superb reference manual.

This is as good as the others in the series, but I don't know why they chose to change to soft cover. It probably won't stand up to the abuse the other two have taken, (although for some reason I find myself referencing these books much less in favor of the API... maybe there's less need as you progress on the learning curve?). Anyway, this book is also an essential part of anyone's Java library.

Just to be precise, this supplement only provides updates regarding java packages in Volume One, not Volumes One and Two both, as one reader indicated. The authors were thoughtful enough to include complete class summaries for those classes which were revised in any way. Thus, they did a fine job in compiling the supplement.

The Java Class Libraries series is the one set of books that all serious Java developers should have on their desk at all times, and this volume is no exception. Great stuff...on one hand I wish they would turn them out faster but on the other hand I appreciate them taking the time to get it right.

The java class libraries, 2nd edition, volume 1, and the supplement have provided me with almost everything I needed to construct an elaborate java software system.
I agree with the several other reviewers that these two volumes, though bulky, are virtually essential to any major java project.
My only criticisms are: (1) there's no review of the template mechanism that fixes types to various container classes -- I had to turn to the (poor) online documentation to figure out how that works, and (2) no overview of the language. You need to turn to one or another tutorial textbooks for that. Or the Java Developer's Reference, from Sams, published in 1996, no longer in print, which I found invaluable for its discussions of the more esoteric features of java.

While the contents of the book as a wonderful as Volumes 1 & 2, I have to drop a star based on the utility of the format. Besides the class library additions, there are updates to classes in the other volumes. Collating the three volumes can be a pain. Still, it's better than waiting for a third edition.

... This book is actually no less than 1157 pages long, and Amazon's record above, of 704 pages, was no doubt produced by the same random-number generator which it usually employs.

This is required on every Java developers bookshelf. It is a wonderful reference.

Oh, when it comes to bookin' Javie in a fashion super-marvy, Boy, no other gang is gamer than your Chan and Lee and Kramer! Watch while they exemplify, explicate and amplify! They know just how to make it clear - so take a seat - don't interfere... And once you've weathered every page, you'll be a Vee one Point two Sage! (And this book's paper's very nice - those glossy ones outglared my eyes.)