Professional Java JDK 6 Edition (Paperback)

~ W. Clay Richardson (Author), Donald Avondolio (Author), Scot Schrager (Author), Mark W. Mitchell (Author), Jeff Scanlon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Working as an effective professional Java developer requires you to know Java APIs, tools, and techniques to solve a wide variety of Java problems. Building upon Ivor Horton's Beginning Java 2, this resource shows you how to use the core features of the latest JDK as well as powerful open source tools such as Ant, JUnit, and Hibernate. It will arm you with a well-rounded understanding of the professional Java development landscape.

The expert author team begins by uncovering the sophisticated Java language features, the methodology for developing solutions, and steps for exploiting patterns. They then provide you with a collection of real-world examples that will become an essential part of your developer's toolkit. With this approach, you'll gain the skills to build advanced solutions by utilizing the more complex and nuanced parts of Java JDK 6.

What you will learn from this book

• How to use tools to make your work easier and more productive
• Methods to develop effective user interfaces with Java Foundation Classes (JFC)
• Steps to build web applications using the Model 1 and Model 2 architectures
• Ways to interact with the databases and XML using JDBC and JAXB
• Techniques for developing enterprise applications using EJB 3.0 and web services
• How to package and deploy Java applications

Who this book is for

This book is for Java developers who are looking for an all-purpose resource, are ready for more advanced Java solutions and language features, and need assistance when tackling new Java problems that may be outside their technological experience.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

From the Back Cover

Working as an effective professional Java developer requires you to know Java APIs, tools, and techniques to solve a wide variety of Java problems. Building upon Ivor Horton's Beginning Java 2, this resource shows you how to use the core features of the latest JDK as well as powerful open source tools such as Ant, JUnit, and Hibernate. It will arm you with a well-rounded understanding of the professional Java development landscape.

The expert author team begins by uncovering the sophisticated Java language features, the methodology for developing solutions, and steps for exploiting patterns. They then provide you with a collection of real-world examples that will become an essential part of your developer's toolkit. With this approach, you'll gain the skills to build advanced solutions by utilizing the more complex and nuanced parts of Java JDK 6.

What you will learn from this book

• How to use tools to make your work easier and more productive
• Methods to develop effective user interfaces with Java Foundation Classes (JFC)
• Steps to build web applications using the Model 1 and Model 2 architectures
• Ways to interact with the databases and XML using JDBC and JAXB
• Techniques for developing enterprise applications using EJB 3.0 and web services
• How to package and deploy Java applications

Who this book is for

This book is for Java developers who are looking for an all-purpose resource, are ready for more advanced Java solutions and language features, and need assistance when tackling new Java problems that may be outside their technological experience.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 741 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 6 edition (January 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471777102
• ISBN-13: 978-0471777106
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #139,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Can't tell who this book is really for, May 18, 2008

By	Michael Ernest "JavaRanch Sheriff" (Corte Madera, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Professional Java attempts to do something I don't think any one book can do well, which is to say something useful on just about every topic. This book's sections include: important additions/changes to JDK 5; a whirlwind tour of project methodologies; design patterns; build tools; persistence tools; UIs; web applications; JNI; EJB 3; SOA; security; and packaging and deployment. The book wants to be a "one-stop shop," and that's fine. After reading through most of the sections and skimming some, however, I'm not sure what the profile of the target shopper might be.

The topic coverage varies wildly from section to section, in the writing style (and quality) and in the effectiveness of sample code to illustrates a point. Too often the descriptions are both verbose and phrased in the passive voice. Some code samples seem like proof-of-concept sketches of a feature or library facility, rather than a compelling example of its use. Still other samples seem full of boilerplate code that speeds up the page-turning but isn't illuminating. And sometimes the text changes its diction strangely; the style changes from a general description to a "follow-along" activity without warning. Some sentences sound as if the author left them in as a reminder to complete a task.

The result is a thick book that, for me, is sometimes tedious or exhausting to read. I think it would have been helpful to give author credit by chapter, if only to know the presentation might change significantly. Also, a concerted effort at paring things down, and keeping the diction clear and active, would help make it more readable and something worth referencing.

As mentioned, the topic coverage is quite broad. This book might come in handy to someone who just needs many topics in one book. So long as you don't need your one reference also for getting started, this book could be a useful collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive, nice to have book, June 8, 2009

By	Leszek Gruchaa "Leszek" (Poland) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Courtesy of Blazej Ksycki from Szczecin JUG:

Learning Java from scratch isn't very difficult, but if you want to know all the good practices it can take quite a big amount of time and effort. The book Professional Java JDK 6 Edition" is here to help us out.
This book is very interesting and relates to quite a few issues. The first thing I found interesting were the differences between JDK 1.5 and JDK 1.6. Another subject is the design of web applications in two architecture models. This book also describes the basics of Enterprise Java Beans. Furthermore the reader will enter the world of many different, but very useful tools such as: Maven, TestNG or JMeter. Another very good chapter is about integrating Java and C++ using JNI (Java Native Interface). Everybody will find something interesting in this book. The number of problems this book is about is really impressive. But there is one thing missing - the J2ME technology.
All the texts in the book are described very clearly and they have very good examples. These examples are very helpful and allow you understand the meaning of the book quicker. However since the book is about many aspects of Java an doesn't concentrate only on one subject, some of the issues were described a bit to briefly. Sometimes when you read this book you get a feeling that there is something that this chapter lacks. When this happens unfortunately you have to find another book which is more specialized than this book.
At the end of the review you ask yourself one question - for who was this book written? The answer is frankly quite simple. For those people, who have some experience in Java and know the basic and now would like to continue their studies on Java, but don't know where to start their journey. Another group of readers that will the book useful are professional that would like to have some kind of quick reference guide. The book is really great and worth having but as for me it's a nice-to-have, but not a must-have. Still we have to remember that though this book is about different aspects of Java it won't replace a collection of more specialized books. But if had to give this book a grade it would be a B+, because of the drawbacks I mentioned above. However I think everyone should read this book - it's worth it!

2 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book for reference if you have done Java before, August 14, 2007

By	J. Soetanto "otnateos" (Sydney, NSW, AU) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book provide really helpful for you if you are trying to know more about Java after you have done it. It provides a lot of examples for doing one thing in different ways.