Amazon.com
Java is the language du jour, and plenty of books have been written about it. But with so many books available, new offerings should be something special. This one isn't.
Learning Java starts at the beginning with a "hello world"-style program that demonstrates using Sun's Java tools. Throughout, the book introduces features using examples--all thoroughly discussed and explained in as straightforward and jargon-free a manner as practicable.
A tricky aspect of Java is the way classes are related, so it's neat to see a whole chapter devoted to the subject early on. Even more opaque is the explicit use of threads. Again, this topic is made accessible in this text, especially with its discussion of thread synchronization. Basic graphics, video handling, and other media in Java are discussed, followed by Beans and the builder environment--but stopping short of JavaBeans. The book finishes with a section on applets, the Java plug-in, and digital signatures.
Overall, however, the reader gets no feeling of working toward a goal, and perhaps this would have been a better book if a project had been its theme. Another odd decision in the mix here was to ignore the several--some free--Java IDEs generally used to program Java. (The book makes a point of saying it hasn't discussed them but doesn't explain. Even beginners find Java more accessible in a programming environment.)
Still, Learning Java, which uses Java 2 v1.3, does a competent job of introducing the language to beginners. As with most O'Reilly books, it's authoritative, lucid, and well edited. Though this book may fail to inspire in the reader the presumed enthusiasm for Java felt by the authors, you won't go wrong with this one, and its coverage of object-oriented programming issues is particularly good. --Steve Patient, Amazon.co.uk
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Learning Java provides an accessible yet comprehensive introduction to the programming language that has changed the way we think about computing. Java has become the language of choice for a wide variety of applications: web services, secure network systems, XML-based tools, reusable components, and mission-critical enterprise systems. Learning Java is filled with easy-to-follow code examples that guide you through Java's many features, APIs, and facilities.
This new edition of Learning Java has been expanded and updated for Java 2 Standard Edition SDK 1.4. It comprehensively addresses important topics such as web applications, servlets, and XML that are increasingly driving enterprise applications. This edition provides full coverage of all Java 1.4 language features including assertions and exception chaining as well as new APIs such as regular expressions and NIO, the new I/O package. New Swing features and components are described along with updated coverage of the JavaBeans component architecture using the open source NetBeans IDE the latest information about Applets and the Java Plug-in for all major web browsers.
The accompanying CD-ROM provides all you need to start working with Java immediately. In addition to the many example programs from the book, the CD includes the complete J2SE SDK 1.4, the NetBeans IDE, the Jakarta Project's Ant make utility and Tomcat application server as well as BeanShell, a simple open source Java scripting language developed by author Pat Niemeyer.
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