Customer Reviews

Ready-to-Run Java 3D

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been doing 3D programming for over 2 decades and just wanted to get a leg up on the new Java 3D stuff. I believe that had I not had extensive experience with 3D before, I would have found it impossible to follow the content of this book. I found myself constantly astounded that this book made it past the copy editors. Besides the scores of typos, it reads like it was translated from Russian to English by a newly arrived Chinese Math TA. There are some good examples although they don't demonstrate all of the features of Java3D. I learned more from the online javadoc pages and the online tutorial. There may be some useful snippets of code to use as inspiration for your own programs but there is nothing in here that couldn't be easily generated by yourself. Who's writing a good Java3D book? If noone volunteers, I'd be happy to write one that's better than this one.

After 4 yerars of programming, I have to say that this book is the strangest programming book I have ever come accross. It is a VERY difficult read for someone not familiar with the Java 3-D API (As I was), and if that person is not familiar with Java, Forget about it. This is definitely not the book to learn from. It often reads like a sales pitch/ego trip from someone who has been around the technology since the beginning, and as such offers very little educational benefit. I wish somebody (Sun Maybe? ) would get it together and come out with something useful on this subject. The bad stuff having now been said, I really have to say the Code Samples were great, demonstrating as I said above--Those that can do, Those that can't teach. These guys are great Java 3D Programmers, but horrible teachers!

I was so unimpressed with this book that I returned it. It's nothing more than a rehash of stuff available from Sun's web site and various places on the internet.

This book is not so good. I've read plenty of good references in my day, and this isn't one. It reads at times like a sales pitch for the technology. Sometimes it's overly elementary and sometimes it's completely bewildering. Perhaps future versions of Java 3D will have the good fortune to be documented by better materials.

The authors seemed like they knew what they were talking about, but rushed through the material. Whether it was their fault, or pressure from editors, I don't know. I do know that the subject needed a more thorough treatment. Excessive listings made me feel like they were trying to pad the length (try changing the margins- worked for me in college), and the writing style struggled to stay focused at times. I learned a lot from the book, but most of it was from dissecting the listings- something I could have done, and ended up doing, on my own with the java 3d demos. I think it would have been better if they had taken one concept at a time, discussed it in depth with examples, and used each of these sections as blocks to build on throughout the book.

I'm a complete newbie to 3D, and picked up the book to learn Java 3D. I'm usually successful at picking stuff up from books, but this one was very difficult to follow.

At the moment, it appears to be the only book on Java 3D (other than the specification) so I'm sure that the publishers valued "speed to market" a lot.

However, I must agree with people who found the book extremely rushed, and at times, impossible to understand. For example, the chapter on Textures was virtually incomprehensible to me. The example used in the code sample was so trivial as to provide almost no understanding. I think the authors should have used TriangleArrays (to get across the idea of "throwing away" part of the image) and textures that span multiple surfaces.

I also think that the code examples provided could have been considerably cleaner, without sacrificing clarity.

Finally, I don't think that the authors ever established for themselves who was reading the book -- they appear to alternate from assuming no knowledge, to assuming lots of knowledge.

Im a bit confused by the good ratings for this book. Must be freinds of the authors. The overall feeling you get reading the book is "rushed". There is no nice progression of simple->complex examples to let you learn the basics. The logical progression of ideas inside the chapters seems akward. Also I think the pages and pages of listings are just an attempt at bulk up the book.

The authors seem like they know the material, so I am confused why these book is so light wieght.

This book contains about 10 applets. The book explains the parameters for these applets. This book explains nothing about the code it just prints the sourcecode, but today nobody prints his complete sourcecode in his book when it is also on the CD-ROM. On the other side the book tells about programms on the CD-ROM, which are not part of the CD-ROM. Another bad point is that the text from page 11 ist copied and pasted to page 81, that's really bad style. If you want to use prepared 3D applets at your homepage, this book may help you, but this book is nothing for developers.

A fairly basic introduction to Java 3D. Its not really a technical book - and the authors and publishers are honest enough about that. It's utility in terms of customizable applets is dubious. The Java 3D tutorial is a better place to start if you already know 3D programming. Real sloppy work on the part of Wiley. No Java 3D SDK on the CD-ROM. The URL on the back of the book is to another book's website...Well, its not like there are a bunch of books on Java 3D to choose from anyway, so if you must have a book this is it.

This book is very old, so I guess it's forgiveable that the text appears to be written for a simpler time when webpage designers needed to know more about how to insert snazzy eye-catching graphics into their designs than about the mechanics of enterprise design. As a learning tool, this book is very poor and will teach you nothing about Java 3D and how to write a program using it. As a catalog of cute effects it is not so bad. So if you just want to lift "ready-to-run" applets from the book that involve shiny orbs floating around 3D text and other such things without having to think about what you're doing, this old book might be for you. That's especially true at the used book prices. However, if you want to learn Java 3D as a tool for image synthesis and computer graphics programming, you will be sorely disappointed. Instead, try Sun Microsystems' excellent free tutorial online available at their website for Java 3D. Also, Selman's book "Java 3D Programming" is a good complement to Sun's tutorial.