|
|
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Be Careful What You Wish For..., October 31, 2002
Nothing makes the importance of understanding exactly what you are looking for as obvious as the travail of picking the right technical book from the usual host on a particular subject. And no subject seems to underscore this more than that of the Java language. I can limp along adequately in Java, after several corporate efforts to get it drilled into my skull, but I'm past the age where perfect recall is anything else but wishful thinking. And Java, which is more an architecture than it is a language, puts high demand on knowledge retention abilities.Thus, I recently found myself searching for a language/object/method reference that is useful when reading and writing code, but does not require two briefcases to carry around. In those circumstances anything that says 'nutshell' is going to get my attention. Since I wasn't looking for long, flowing dissertations on syntax or object use, this book seemed exactly what I wanted. And it is, for the most part. There are about 300 pages of tiny print on Java, its syntax, environment, and tools. Then comes 600 pages of reference on objects and methods, organized (somewhat) by package. In general, if you can find it, and you already have a clue of why you should look for it, the book does just what I wanted. The flaw, however, is in the finding. Indexing and organization is best described as adequate. But browsing is a literal impossibility. Under no circumstances should you buy this book if you are looking for a learning tool. It is at its best when you need to be reminded about something, not when you are looking for a way to actually do something. I didn't expect to find anything on J2EE in the book, and sure enough, there isn't. But I found the lack of information on the AWT and Swing irritating. I admit that it says right on the back cover (in tiny print) that I need 'Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell' if those are also of interest. Of course they are if you are writing an application that needs more than a command line interface. Left up to me I would have sacrificed some of the more obscure information for 50 or so pages on the AWT. Or even put up with a book with 100 extra pages. As it is I still need ten pounds of paperbacks to feel like I have sufficient reference material. Still, the book of professionally done, brooks no nonsense, and does precisely what it says it does. Which is a small miracle in today's technology business. I certain bear a certain amount of responsibility for not getting something that is precisely what I wanted, but I use this every day, and generally, I get exactly what I need.
|
by David Flanagan
by Kathy Sierra
by David Flanagan
by Harvey & Paul) Deitel & Deitel
by David Flanagan
