Learning Java Book

Java is the language de jour and there's a stream of books covering it, but with so many books available new offerings have to be something special. Learning Java starts at the beginning with a "hello world" style program to demonstrate using Sun's Java tools, and it continues to introduce features with examples. These are all thoroughly discussed and explained in as straightforward and jargon-free manner as practicable. A tricky aspect of Java is the way classes are related, so it's great to see a whole chapter devoted to the subject early on. Even more opaque is the explicit use of threads in Java. Again, this is covered in an accessible way, especially the discussion on thread synchronisation. The authors cover basic graphics, video handling and other media in Java before moving on to Beans and the builder environment, stopping short of JavaBeans. The book finishes with a section on applets, the Java plugin and digital signatures. There is, though, no feeling of working toward a goal--perhaps this would have been a better book with a project as a theme. Another odd decision is ignoring the several--some free--Java IDEs generally used to program Java. (Neimeyer makes a point of saying he hasn't discussed them but without saying why. Even beginners find Java more accessible in a programming environment.)Still, Learning Java, which uses Java2 v1.3, does a competent job of introducing Java to beginners. As with most O'Reilly books, it's authoritative, lucid and well edited, though it 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 PatientRead More