Customer Reviews

Professional Java Programming

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As its generic title implies, this book doesn't really focus on a single Java topic. Instead, it covers many different topics, most of which area relatively advanced, and does a decent job with almost all of them. Some of the chapters were on topics that are pretty basic, such as event handling and layout managers, but even in those areas I found lots of useful tips and tricks.

My one complaint is that some of the examples were a bit contrived. On the other hand, the code samples were extremely clear and easy to understand, and I suppose that there's a tradeoff there between realism and simplicity. That's why I'm still giving this book five stars -- because even if the examples weren't "realistic", they were at least effective.

Since the topics are largely unrelated to one another (with the obvious exception that they're all relevant to Java programmers), this isn't a book that I'd recommend someone read from cover-to-cover. However, I do consider it a very good reference for most of the subjects that it covers, and a good starting point for the remainder.

I think I have a good understanding of basics of Java, but I almost didn't buy this title because I'm still pretty new to the language. But I got it because I needed to do printing and with Java 1.3 and was very pleasantly surprised with this book. It is very well written with lots of clear example code and with minimal 'jargon'. I haven't read the whole thing yet but I really found the printing chapter clear and easy to understand and I was able to use some of the code unmodified inside my application and some other with very little change. I also have been able to have some questions answered about JTABLE that I had before by flipping to the section in the table chapter of this book. So far its been a really good reference book for me and has chapters on a lot of other things that I will need to know about. Alot of times I'm disappointed with the quality of writing in the programming books I buy but this author is really good at making things simple and clear. Another thing I like about this book is that it covers both client and server topics (but no jsp or servlet info - just stuff like threading and distributed programming etc.) so it isnt limited to just one area of Java.

Many titles focus on a single title, and they often seem to be packed full of material that's marginally useful at best and irrelevant at works. In contrast, this one tackles a large number of topics that many Java programmers will need to know about, and for the most part, it manages to cover those topics in more than enough depth to allow the reader to really understand and use the Java technologies that it covers. However, it doesn't just examine those technologies from an academic perspective, but includes lots of clear examples and code that could be very useful. In some cases, the code is appropriate for use directly within an application, while in other cases, utility programs are included that help the reader to understand or use the technology better. The best example of this latter case that comes to mind is in the chapter on layout managers, where the author provides a really useful utility program that makes it easy to play with GridBagLayout and see how modifying the various constraints affects the components within the layout. In that same chapter, he also describes how to create a custom layout manager (it turned out to be easier than I expected) and provides an example of one that's actually pretty useful, at least in the scenario described.   The areas where I felt this book was weak were in the chapters on object-oriented design and distributed objects. While those chapters were ok and easy to understand, they don't provide a great deal of depth, and if you want to know more on those subjects, you should probably look elsewhere, although this book might be a good starting point for a beginner. Overall, though, the chapters provided plenty of depth, and I consider this a really outstanding book. It took me a while to finish it, but it was definitely worth the effort, and I'd recommend it to anyone who has advanced beyond the most basic levels of Java programming.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with this book and would have to say that there are alot more things that I like about it than things I didn't like. As other reviewers have pointed out, the writing is very clear and concise, which is really important for advanced topics like the ones covered here. This book also covers a lot of subjects and mostly examines them in plenty of detail, but not so much detail that it put me to sleep or became irrelevant trivia, as some books tend to do.

Another really nice thing about this book is that it keeps me from having to go out and buy a bunch of other books that each cover one of the topics included in this one. Most of the topics in Professional Java Programming have been covered elsewhere, but it would have cost me alot more money to go buy all those other books than it did for me to just get this one. But even in the case of topics that have been covered elsewhere, this book does a good job. An example of that is its coverage of layout managers, and the description of how GridBagLayout works in particular was the best I've ever read.

I do have a couple of gripes, such as the lack of a CD. Yes, I know that I can download the code from the Wrox web site, but I'd still like to get a CD. I also think the chapter on distributed objects should have been longer or at least the RMI section broken out into its own chapter. I'd like for it to have covered the activation framework, since that's an advanced topic and this is a book on advanced topics. The distributed objects chapter is probably really good if you're new to the subject, but for advanced programmers (which I understand the book is targeted for), it doesn't provide a lot of new information. Overall, though I'm pleased with this title and would recommend it to tohers.

This is a great reference book that covers both simple and more advanced topics in Java. I bought this to help me prepare to teach a Java programming class, and now plan to recommend it to all my students. The writing is clear and to-the-point, unlike some other titles that tend to be a bit on the wordy side. Code samples are sprinkled liberally throughout most of the chapters, and like the writing, they are simple, easy to understand, and effective.

In addition to a chapter on JDBC, this book includes a chapter that describes the various persistence options available to Java programmers, and nicely frames JDBC's role as one such option. That chapter also describes the InputStream, OutputStream, Reader, and Writer classes in the java.io package, along with an in-depth discussion of serialization. Another favorite of mine was the chapter on creating custom GUI components, a topic that I've not seen covered in many other places.

My only complaint is that this book doesn't come with a CD-ROM, but the code listings in the book are at least downloadable from the publisher's web site.

I really like the premise of this book. Too many of those on the market these days focus on a single topic and are padded with useless, irrelevant material to make them large enough to justify paying $40-$60 for, but this one takes a very different approach. It contains chapters on various different Java-related topics that don't warrant entire books, but that are complex enough to be given an entire chapter. My favorite chapters are the ones on printing, JTree, JTable, and internationalization and security. I was already familiar with the first three topics to some extent, but this book really increased the depth of my knowledge in those areas. The Java 2 security model was something of a mystery to me, but this book does an outstanding job of providing a simple but thorough explanation of it, how it works, and how to use it.

As a previous reviewer noted, not all of the chapters are in-depth, such as the one on distributed programming. That's another area where I was already pretty knowledgeable, but for someone who's only marginally familiar with topics such as socket programming, CORBA, or RMI, this would be a great introduction.

I was also impressed with the chapter on persistence, as it did a good job of summarizing the classes and interfaces in the java.io package and of examining the different persistence options available to a Java program. Some chapters provide an in-depth examination of the topics, others provide good reference material, and a few (like the persistence chapter) offer both.

I would disagree with a previous reviewer who said that this wouldn't be a good book to read from cover to cover, because I learned new things even when reading the chapters that were devoted to topics I already felt pretty knowledgeable about.

Some of the topics covered here haven't been written about anywhere else that I know of, but all of them are well-written and informative.

Despite covering advanced topics, this book is surprisingly clear and easy to read. You won't find any lengthy, irrelevant ramblings about the history of this or that or anecdotes about the author's pet in Professional Java Programming -- it gets to the point and covers the topics thoroughly. Another thing I liked is that unlike a lot of programming books these days, this one is written by a single author, which means that there's little or no duplication of information and the writing is consistent throughout the book. That's not to say that this is a title that you'll want to read from cover to cover, but it does provide terrific information on lots of topics.

This book covers many Java-related topics, and although there is some overlap, I found it to be a good follow-up to Wrox's Beginning Java 2. Some of the topics covered in this book weren't covered in as much depth as I would have liked, but even in those cases, there was enough useful information to give me a basic understanding of the subject. Prior to buying this book, I had a difficult time finding much information on some of the topics that it covers, such as how to add help capabilities to a Java application, printing, cut & paste, drag & drop, etc. I was happy to find in-depth coverage of those topics, and the fact that they're all in one book makes this title a bargain in my opinion.

Excellent choice for a Java programmer already familiar with the basics. This book is a superb example of what a professional Java programmer would find useful. I especially found the JDBC chapter very informative and easy to understand. The chaper on Event Handling was insightful and well written. A great follow up to Beginning Java 2 from WROX. I highly recommend this book as a must for the serious Java professional.

I enjoyed Ivor Horton's "Beginning Java 2" title very much, and considered its only weakness to be the fact that it provides light coverage of the advanced topics. However, at over 1000 pages, BJ2 is already plenty long enough!

I was very pleased to see that Wrox came out with a new title which covered many of the advanced topics such as internationalization, creating custom GUI components, Java Native Interface (JNI), and many others. I initially feared that I would not enjoy this title as much as Horton's, but Brett did an excellent job. Although he does not cover J2EE technologies such as JSPs, servlets, and EJBs (I'm about to read "Professional Java Server Programming"), he does cover both client and server topics, many of which are relevant to thin client development. For example, I very much enjoyed his chapters on XML, threads, and internationalization, which is a topic that does not appear to get much attention in most Java books.

One thing that isn't covered in much depth here is object-oriented design, but again, that is covered in detail in another title: "Beginning Java Objects". To anyone new to Java and OO programming, I highly recommend these three titles.