Murach's Java SE 6: Training & Reference [Paperback]

Joel Murach (Author), Andrea Steelman (Author), Doug Lowe (Collaborator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 20, 2007 | ISBN-10: 1890774421 | ISBN-13: 978-1890774424 | Edition: 1st Ed.

This book teaches how to develop Java applications at the professional level. It starts by showing how to code, test, and debug everyday business applications that won t crash. It presents object-oriented features like classes, inheritance, interfaces, and polymorphism in a way that s both understandable and useful in the real world...perspective that s often missing in Java training. It presents essential Java skills such as working with data types, control statements, arrays, collections, generics, enumerations, exceptions, threads, Swing components, applets, and text and binary files. It covers new Java SE 6 features such as new JDBC features, the StAX XML API, and the built-in Derby database. And it s all done in the distinctive Murach style that has been training professional programmers for more than 30 years.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Developers often tell me they wish they'd found our Java book first, before spending time and money on others. Here are 4 of the reasons why I believe this book will work equally well for you:

#1: The first six chapters get you off to a fast start
By the time you complete these chapters, you'll be writing bulletproof, object-oriented applications with business classes and objects. These chapters work well for the complete beginner. But they also get the experienced developer up-to-speed fast.

#2: The class summaries help you master the Java API and save you hours of research
Although most books present dozens of coding examples that illustrate the use of some Java classes, they don't try to summarize all of the classes, constructors, and methods that you'll use the most. Our book does both. For instance, to learn how to use the LinkedList class, you'll first see a summary of its primary constructors and methods. Then, you'll see coding examples that show you how you can apply those constructors and methods. This can save you hundreds of hours of research over the course of the book.

#3: Chapters 7 and 8 show you how to use inheritance, interfaces, and polymorphism in a way that is both practical and understandable
You won't find any toy applications or cat and dog objects in these chapters. Instead, you'll study practical examples that show you how to use inheritance, polymorphism, interfaces, type-safe enumerations, and the factory pattern in business applications. This at last takes the mystery out of object-oriented programming. And we just haven't seen this done right in any other book.

#4: The paired-pages format lets you set your own pace
Murach books have a distinctive format, where each two-page spread presents a single topic. Both beginning and experienced developers find that this format makes it easy to focus on the information they need, whether they're using the book for training or reference. To see how this works, you can download sample chapters for free from the Murach web site.

About the Author

Joel Murach has a background in software training and is a specialist in developing business applications, particularly web applications. In the past 5 years, he has written and edited books on Java, ASP.NET, and C# that have helped thousands of developers become proficient at creating the kind of applications that businesses rely on every day.

Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Mike Murach & Associates Inc; 1st Ed. edition (April 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890774421
• ISBN-13: 978-1890774424
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,643 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #90 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Java

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murach's Java SE 6, October 21, 2007

By 

John Yeary "John Yeary Greenville Java Users ... (Greenville, SC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murach's Java SE 6: Training & Reference (Paperback)

There have been a number of books and tutorials written about Java. The gold standard for me has always been "Learning Java" by Patrick Niemeyer and Johnathan Knudsen (O'Reilly & Associates). I have had a number of new programmers, enthusiasts, and members of the JUG tell me it is information overload. The book does contain a lot of information in its 828 page heft. As a result, I have been looking for a book just for beginners. I have found it.

I just completed reviewing Murach's Java SE 6. It is a very good resource for learning Java. This book does an excellent job of providing a firm basis for understanding the technology. The book is clearly and concisely written. The book is divided into 5 major sections which cover the essential Java skills to advanced topics on data access programming using XML and JDBC.

The teaching style is very clever. It typically takes the form of a page of information with facing page with examples. I found this to be very important in getting sometimes difficult points across. I typically take the "Show me the code" philosophy, and this style works for me.

The other technique that used is to convey a purpose for learning Java. This is done by using the various topics as building blocks to create an application. The final result is a completed application at the end of the book. It encompasses the lessons learned, and gives the new programmer a sense of accomplishment with a completed functional application at the end of the book. I love it.

I have found that people learn better with functional code examples. This book is replete with them. One of my greatest annoyances is to have code samples which do not work. This clouds the ability to learn because it forces the beginning programmer to question their abilities. The shroud of uncertainty should not be because the gold standard code is incorrect. I am pleased to note that I tried a number of code examples and they all worked.

My favorite section is Data access programming with Java. Chapter 20 covers working with XML. This is a must for any programmer. XML is the new black, and anything that can help you learn this important technology is a must. In chapter 20, the topic of StAX is covered. This is the best simplified example of using StAX I have seen. After reading the information, and performing the examples, I felt I had a better understanding of this technology.

I only have a few minor negative points to mention: the title is a little misleading. The majority of the information in the book really details Java SE 5 enhancements with two notable exceptions: StAX and an introduction to Derby (Java DB).

My overall impression is that the book is an outstanding resource for new and seasoned programmers. This is a great book to add to the reference shelf.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Intro To Java, August 14, 2007

By 

C. Owen - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murach's Java SE 6: Training & Reference (Paperback)

This book provides a cornucopeia of subjects that most intro to Java books briefly touch on, such as threading, setting up the Java environment on the windows pc,and the tutorials and instructions on using the various Java IDE's. I found these tutorials concise and easier to follow than on the Java web site.

As always, Murach's treatment of OOP concepts impressed me. By displaying these concepts in a real-world application it reinforces your learning heads, leaps, bounds and miles over OOP object models of cats, widgets, etc.

Best of all the code examples work! I can tell you how about the frustration of typing a 2-page code sample to realize, oops,the code sample doesn't work.

The main area the book failed to meet expectations revolved around the weakness of its database section. Providing only a command line version of the database application reduced my rating from 5 to 4.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Murach does good books, May 12, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Murach's Java SE 6: Training & Reference (Paperback)

There are probably a couple of hundred changes and improvements that have been included in the new release of Java. The problem is that after three or four releases, the new product additions bring a decreasing amount of utility to the package. By version 3 or 4 the stuff that we really need is there.

Java 6 has two additions that fall into my definition of really nice new things. One, is that Java continues to get faster as new editions come out. There's nothing you have to do to make it run faster so there isn't much said about this in the book.

The second new thing is that Java now incorporates an integral database. It's a relatively new database called Derby. This is a small database, written entirely in Java as part of the Apache project. In this book there is a lengthy chapter, some 32 pages, covering the use of the database from Java. This book does not include a discussion of Derby SQL, that will have to be another book. [Note: Derby is the same product as IBM's Cloudscape database.]

This book is a general introductory book to Java it starts with downloading the software from Sun and carries it forth to rather complex programming. It is, as is standard with the Murach books, very professionally done, tightly edited, complete, and probably the best book on the subject.