Essentials of the Java Programming Language: A Hands on Guide Book

Confucius reputedly said, "I heard and I forgot, I saw and I remembered, I did and I understood." Monica Pawlan--a Sun staff writer--is clearly a big fan of Confucius. Her relatively slim (by computing title standards) book is a practical guide to getting started with Java. The book is aimed at someone with at least a basic knowledge of programming--preferably C--though you don't need to be a working programmer to benefit from it. From the beginning, the author concentrates on Java program commonalities and eschews theory in favour of practice. Pawlan doesn't dumb anything down, though. She introduces and explains all the necessary Java jargon. What you don't get is a lot of unnecessary background theory or holy war justifications as to why this way of doing things is better than some other way. Interestingly, her approach also means you don't get the usual negative take on the difficulties involved in understanding object-oriented programming which is, after all, conceptually simpler than VCR programming. She focuses on the kinds of thing you actually want to do, for example, showing you how to convert a simple example application into an applet. Indeed, the book builds on the early examples to--eventually--create a complete if simple e-commerce application, which is this reviewer's only complaint. E-commerce may currently be Java's natural home but a little more originality in the examples wouldn't go amiss. Despite this minor gripe, Essentials of the Java Programming Language is a concise guide to the essentials of practical Java programming, though some readers might find the fast pace stiff going. --Steve PatientRead More