The Java Class Libraries, Volume 1: java.io, java.lang, java.math, java.net, java.text, java.util (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

~ Patrick Chan (Author), Rosanna Lee (Author), Douglas Kramer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As noted by coauthor Patrick Chan in his interview with Amazon.com, programmers spend much of their time writing little programs that do nothing but explain to them the behavior of certain aspects of a language. Java programmers, working as they do with a relatively new, evolving language, spend more time than most writing experimental programs that help them figure out particular classes.

With this book, Chan, Rosanna Lee, and Douglas Kramer attempt to save you the trouble of all that futzing around. Each class in the java.io.*, java.lang.*, java.lang.reflect.*, java.math.*, java.net.*, java.text.*, java.util.*, and java.util.zip.* packages gets explored thoroughly in these pages. In each entry you'll find not only the pedestrian inheritance chart and statement of syntax but a lengthy, lucid discussion of the class (or member), too. Best of all, each entry comes with a working example of how the class or member is used in real life.

The authors, all affiliated with Sun Microsystems in Java's earliest days, know their stuff. They have created an omnibus tool that should prove immensely valuable to any Java programmer who wants to get the most out of the language. --David Wall

Product Description

Volume 1 is the definitive reference to the Java 1.1 class libraries from the creators of the Java technology at Sun Microsystems. Information is presented in an easy-to-use, dictionary-like format. DLC: Java (Computer program language)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 2050 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional; 2 Sub edition (March 9, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201310023
• ISBN-13: 978-0201310023
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.7 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #900,437 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the API documentation should have been, January 25, 2000

By	Doug Bell "Java guru" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you do serious work in Java, then you already know that the online Javadoc documentation is incomplete, often inaccurate and entirely lacking any high-level discussion of the API. This book is everything that the online API documentation is not.

Of course, if you do serious work in Java, then you already have this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful, marvelous, buy, buy, buy, August 20, 2000

By	Geoffrey S. Robinson (Haddon Heights, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is a reason this book is rated so highly. It is worth every penny you will spend on it. I would pay double the price, but don't tell the publisher. This is my favorite reference book, and my Java programming would not be as productive without this book. The book is huge, because it covers every class within the standard library (io, net, lang, etc.). As much as I appreciate the O'Reilly Nutshell book, this is far superior to that book. This has something Nutshell doesn't. Context. Not only does it have all the classes with all their methods, it puts each method in context. It shows you how they are used by providing relevant example code and descriptions. And the descriptions in the book are wonderful. You will look up a class and find a related class that will work better for your needs. I especially recommending getting this book for a team of developers. Leave the book in the room for office use. If you can so afford, get it for each developer. This is like the Post-it note. You would never live without it, even though you managed and may have even done well before it came along.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My desert island book series, June 23, 2000

By	Craig Patchett (Encinitas, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you could design your own Java reference series, what would you include? How about:

- An plain English explanation of each class and method.
- Sample code for every class and method.
- Intelligent organization that enables you to find a given class or method quickly.
- A comprehensive, well-organized index that thinks like you do.

This summarizes the content of this book and the other two in the series and explains why they are the three books I wouldn't dream of programming in Java without. (I've been a professional Java developer since 1996.) Buy the book and make your life easier.