Customer Reviews

The Visual Basic Programmer's Guide to Java: Your Professional Toolkit for Object-Oriented Programming

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a proficient VB/COM developer, I thought this might be a good book to begin learning Java with. Be warned: It is not! It was written over 4 years ago and it completely out of date. The text makes constant references to the accompanying CD, which does not exist. The book honestly looks like a poor quality photocopy. It is clear that this was writen in 1996 and republished in January 1999 with nary a change in content. The book only goes to VB4, which is long gone. Want to learn Java? Buy Beginning Java 2 by Ivor Horton. I am sending this book back.

Recommendation
VB pros - Strong Buy.
Delphi pros - Buy.
C++ pros - Don't Buy.

Pros
Author makes language approachable by writing VB code next to Java code. Learning by example snippets makes Java seem easier than it is. This teaching method gives the reader the bonus of a boatload of code samples to play with, all on a CD. These CDs are nice, but I remain unconvinced that a CD justifies the skyscraper prices computer publishers demand.

Cons
Biggest letdown was absence of database material. JDBC came on the scene about the time the book did so perhaps that explains the omission. JDBC or not, the author should have said something about databases. Also, the Internet received too little attention. I was surprised since the Internet was touted by Sun as the language's primary justification (read cross-platform compatibility) after marketing the benefits of a language for toasters and refrigerators warmed programmers hearts like watching a flawless sprinkler system hose your workstation during a supposed fire drill.

Review Abstract
The chapters are organized well and short (<20 pages each). This isn't Moby Dick so biting off small bites and taking time to digest is part of good geek mores. You actually learn to think of VB in an abstract manner - more mores.

Chapter Review Details
1. "What is Java?" A quick and dirty overview of Java. Could have used a fun in the Sun anecdote or three.
2. "Installing & Using Java" Missing any mention of Visual Cafe or Microsoft J++. Perhaps I'm a bit tough here, but author burst out of the gate without even checking on Symantec and Microsoft.
3. "Syntax of the Java Language" Didn't hurt much.
4. "Object-Oriented Programming" Best lesson for Vbers who like pick-it-up-during-lunch training methods.
5. "Using Classes in Java Programming" Whoever gave them the name "class" must enjoy the bewildering look on people. It makes more sense to stick ! with the term "object." It confuses me. I think schedule every time I see "class" instead of methods to accomplish something like returning the number of characters in a string using int len = abc.length();.
6. "Inheritance" Actually a good moniker. Properties and methods are passed on to your version when you base it on a previous object. It's the same as placing a textbox on a form. You have access to the height property even though you didn't write the code for it. Java folk say you inherited the height property.
7. "Java Visual Controls" Just what the chapter title means. About the only chapter that needed more material and examples.
8. "Writing a Simple Visual Application in Java" This is where the book would start to change if the author does another version. This chapter simply needs to include a real tool like Visual Cafe or Microsoft J++.
9. "Layout Managers" Too much said here. VB does it better and, amazingly, Microsoft marketing machine doesn't even demand credit for it.
10. "Using Graphics Methods" I don't know how to draw on paper much less on screen so no opinion here.
11. "Writing a Program With Two Windows" Excellent chapter with a misleading title. Should have gone with Communication between Windows.
12. "Files & Exceptions" Another strong chapter that would have been a good transition into databases.
13. "Using Threads in Java" Best theoretical chapter in the book. I didn't get it all so I'll have to reread it a few times.
14. "Images in Java Applets & Applications" Necessary evil for artistically challenged like myself.
15. "Menus & Dialogs" Nuff said.
16. "Classes & Binary Files in Java" Should have come after chapter 12.
17. "Keyboard Input in Java" Makes me appreciate VB.
18. "Using the Mouse in Java" Makes me like VB even more.
19. "Building Custom Contro! ls" Somewhat tough. I would usually surf far and wide for one someone else's hack before taking the time to do anything complicated.
20. "Using Packages" A way of grouping classes. I never heard of it before.
21. "Building Web Pages" No Java, just plain HTML.
22. "Applets & Web Pages" Late, but finally!
23. "Interacting With Web Page Forms" Really fun section.
24. "What is JavaScript?" Author gets points for due diligence.
25. "Using Sockets in Java" Most powerful chapter. You can get dangerous here.
26. "Math Classes & Matrices" A small chapter that was still appreciated. It would have been easy to add some statistic examples on CD like standard deviation and average of arrays.

As a long time VB and ASP programmer, retraining for Java or C# is a mind-boggler. After taking a class on OO Analysis and Design, I can now make sense out of the paradigm of OO, and appreciate it's benefits. But the paradigm shift is so great, that one probably needs more than the syntax training and introductory level OO concepts presented in this book to be successfull with OO. However this is not the author's fault. If you already grasp OO concepts, this book provides superb examples of how to move from procedural syntax and program structures to use inheritance,polymorphism, and encapsulation as provided by Java.

This book is unlike any other Java book on the market. For a VB programmer, the comparisons really clear even the most abstracts aspects of Java programming. I highly recommend this book.

Of the many Java books I have purchased, this has been the most helpful. I recommend this to anyone learning Java, especially Visual Basic users. Can't wait for an update to cover JDK 1.1.x and Beans.