Agile Java(TM): Crafting Code with Test-Driven Development (Paperback)

~ Jeff Langr (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Agile Java is a valuable tutorial and reference. It introduces the Java languagewith no assumptions about a developer's background in Java, object-orienteddevelopment, or TDD. The book will also retain significant value as acookbook that readers will turn to time and again to learn how to approachTDD with respect to various language features.Teh author stresses the importance of TDD by showing coded tests for everyJava feature taught. A programmer learning with this book will understand howto translate oral requirements into tests, and tests into working code. Readersalso learn how TDD impacts the design of the system, and vice versa. In short,anyone who wants to understand what it takes to build a professional, robustsoftware system using Java will want this book. Agile Java will be ideally timedto coincide with Sun's forthcoming release of Java 5 (J2SE 1.5).

From the Back Cover

Master Java 5.0 and TDD Together: Build More Robust, Professional Software

Master Java 5.0, object-oriented design, and Test-Driven Development (TDD) by learning them together. Agile Java weaves all three into a single coherent approach to building professional, robust software systems. Jeff Langr shows exactly how Java and TDD integrate throughout the entire development lifecycle, helping you leverage today's fastest, most efficient development techniques from the very outset.

Langr writes for every programmer, even those with little or no experience with Java, object-oriented development, or agile methods. He shows how to translate oral requirements into practical tests, and then how to use those tests to create reliable, high-performance Java code that solves real problems. Agile Java doesn't just teach the core features of the Java language: it presents coded test examples for each of them. This TDD-centered approach doesn't just lead to better code: it provides powerful feedback that will help you learn Java far more rapidly. The use of TDD as a learning mechanism is a landmark departure from conventional teaching techniques.

• Presents an expert overview of TDD and agile programming techniques from the Java developer's perspective

• Brings together practical best practices for Java, TDD, and OO design

• Walks through setting up Java 5.0 and writing your first program

• Covers all the basics, including strings, packages, and more

• Simplifies object-oriented concepts, including classes, interfaces, polymorphism, and inheritance

• Contains detailed chapters on exceptions and logging, math, I/O, reflection, multithreading, and Swing

• Offers seamlessly-integrated explanations of Java 5.0's key innovations, from generics to annotations

• Shows how TDD impacts system design, and vice versa

• Complements any agile or traditional methodology, including Extreme Programming (XP)

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 792 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (February 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131482394
• ISBN-13: 978-0131482395
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #487,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ambitious Language/Programming Tutorial that Delivers, March 1, 2005

By	Michael C. Feathers (Miami FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pity those of us who try to teach people how to program. Thirty years ago, everyone was a beginner. Ten years ago, everyone wanted to program because it was the hottest way to make money (remember? Learn Java, move to Silicon Valley and make millions). Each year, the background and experience of the set of people who want to learn more about programming gets wider and more diverse. There are people who've tinkered with computers since they were kids, people who learned by the seat of their pants in industry; and people who've learned in school.

Jeff Langr's book, Agile Java, is significantly different and significantly better than most programming/language tutorials that have been written. One major difference is its sheer ambition. When you read this book, you'll learn the elements of Java (not just basic syntax but deep guru advice on why and why not to do things in particular ways), you'll learn the Java 1.5 extensions, and you'll also learn Test Driven Development (it is woven into the style of the book and explained throughout). A book this ambitious could've easily failed on any of these fronts, but Langr pulls it off because of his in-depth knowledge in all three areas and clear, lucid writing style.

I recommend this book for anyone who has a bit of programming experience who wants to get a leg up by learning Java and TDD simultaneously. The book is also a very informative read for much more experienced programmers. Agile Java contains a lot of good programming and testing advice, and experienced programmers will find that Langr's take on the fundamentals of programming may help them see things in more productive ways. It is a very good snapshot of the state of best programming practices today.

Agile Java is a great way to learn and relearn Java programming. And, given the rate of change in the industry, we all need to relearn programming periodically to be as effective as we can be.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic, August 24, 2005

By	B. Blazer (WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a fantastic primer to not only the java language, but to agile methods and junit as well. The author does a great job of introducing many concepts in a way that is easy to digest without being slow. However, seasoned java programmers may get frustrated with the early chapters that speak to basic java while introducing the bread and butter of junit. This is only for the first 150 pages or so. The information and lessons on refactoring, best practices, and junit are well worth it though. The best part of the book is the author's style. He does not speak down to the reader with overly high vocabulary, or with an "I am all knowing" attitude, but rather he uses a conversational tone with an emphasis on making the topic clear concise and to the point.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book for learning Java, May 27, 2005

By	Michael Cohn "agile developer" (Lafayette, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a wonderful book and should be your first choice if you are learning Java. Or if you already know Java and want to learn more about it and see lots of great example of "agile source code."

What I like about this book is that it addresses a fundamental problem in otherwise very good books such as Deitel's "Java: How To Program" and Eckel's classic "Thinking In Java." This book combines solid instruction in Java programming with a truly agile view of how to develop the source code. Significant (yet still small) examples are built in a test-driven manner, which serves to reinforce and instill the idea that this is the right way to write code.

In talking with friends I've been saying for a few years that test-driven development is great but that it will really start to have an impact when it is part of how programmers first learn to program rather than a new technique they learn as it is now. To achieve this, new programmers need a book from which they can learn how to write code and that writing a test first is the best way to do this. Langr has written that book. Highly recommended.