Dave Walz-Burkett said
This short and sweet pocket-sized Java guide covers the subject quickly and to the point. It brings together the main Java concepts in a single, compact format. Sometimes it's nice to have a feather-light reference in your rucksack.
While tiny, the guide contains the following:
Part I. Language
Chapter 1: Naming Conventions
Chapter 2: Lexical Elements
Chapter 3: Fundamental Types
Chapter 4: Reference Types
Chapter 5: Object-Oriented Programming
Chapter 6: Statements and Blocks
Chapter 7: Exception Handling
Chapter 8: Java Modifiers
Part II. Platform
Chapter 9: Java Platform, SE
Chapter 10: Development Basics
Chapter 11: Basic Input and Output
Chapter 12: Java Collections Framework
Chapter 13: Generics Framework
Chapter 14: Concurrency
Chapter 15: Memory Management
Chapter 16: The Java Scripting API
Chapter 17: Third-Party Tools
Chapter 18: UML Basics
The book is well organized and well written. It contains micro-snippets of code for virtually every topic covered. It's a helpful book to keep around for review or quick lookups. If you are new to Java but already a programmer of another object-oriented language, you could read it to get a quick, high-level overview. I have found it to be among the most useful Java books I own.
calvinnme said
I don't know about you, but when I'm confused about something, I'm really confused. I need an example to clear up my confusion or my memory. This book gives examples in the most superficial of terms. It is designed to be a quick guide to J2SE through the Java 6 Platform, and quick is what it is. It is not going to jump start you if you need a real jump start on an issue you have forgotten. The most useful information is at the very end of the guide where it talks about the Java Scripting API, tools, and UML. The first half of the book is oriented towards the Java programming language and the second half is about the platform components and some special topics.
If you need useful examples in an accessible format I still suggest the Core Java books by Cornell. They may be somewhat unwieldy to lug around on trips, but they get the job done. Java Examples in a Nutshell is somewhat outdated, but it still can clear up some questions on parts of the language that haven't changed over the years. If you are new to Java I absolutely recommend against getting this pocket guide. You'll be lost. I include the table of contents since it is currently not listed in the product description.
Chapter 1. Naming Conventions
Section 1.1. Class Names
Section 1.2. Interface Names
Section 1.3. Method Names
Section 1.4. Instance and Static Variable Names
Section 1.5. Parameter and Local Variables Names
Section 1.6. Generic Type Parameter Names
Section 1.7. Constant Names
Section 1.8. Enumeration Names
Section 1.9. Package Names
Section 1.10. Acronyms
Chapter 2. Lexical Elements
Section 2.1. Unicode and ASCII
Section 2.2. Comments
Section 2.3. Keywords
Section 2.4. Identifiers
Section 2.5. Separators
Section 2.6. Operators
Section 2.7. Literals
Section 2.8. Escape Sequences
Section 2.9. Unicode Currency Symbols
Chapter 3. Fundamental Types
Section 3.1. Primitive Types
Section 3.2. Literals for Primitive Types
Section 3.3. Floating-Point Entities
Section 3.4. Numeric Promotion of Primitive Types
Section 3.5. Wrapper Classes
Section 3.6. Autoboxing and Unboxing
Chapter 4. Reference Types
Section 4.1. Comparing Reference Types to Primitive Types
Section 4.2. Default Values
Section 4.3. Conversion of Reference Types
Section 4.4. Converting Between Primitives and Reference Types
Section 4.5. Passing Reference Types into Methods
Section 4.6. Comparing Reference Types
Section 4.7. Copying Reference Types
Section 4.8. Memory Allocation and Garbage Collection of Reference Types
Chapter 5. Object-Oriented Programming
Section 5.1. Classes and Objects
Section 5.2. Variable Length Argument Lists
Section 5.3. Abstract Classes and Abstract Methods
Section 5.4. Static Data Members, Static Methods, and Static Constants
Section 5.5. Interfaces
Section 5.6. Enumerations
Section 5.7. Annotations Types
Chapter 6. Statements and Blocks
Section 6.1. Expression Statements
Section 6.2. Empty Statement
Section 6.3. Blocks
Section 6.4. Conditional Statements
Section 6.5. Iteration Statements
Section 6.6. Transfer of Control
Section 6.7. Synchronized Statement
Section 6.8. Assert Statement
Section 6.9. Exception Handling Statements
Chapter 7. Exception Handling
Section 7.1. The Exception Hierarchy
Section 7.2. Checked/Unchecked Exceptions and Errors
Section 7.3. Common Checked/Unchecked Exceptions and Errors
Section 7.4. Exception Handling Keywords
Section 7.5. The Exception Handling Process
Section 7.6. Defining Your Own Exception Class
Section 7.7. Printing Information About Exceptions
Chapter 8. Java Modifiers
Section 8.1. Access Modifiers
Section 8.2. Other (Non-Access) Modifiers
Chapter 9. Java Platform, SE
Section 9.1. Common Java SE API Libraries
Chapter 10. Development Basics
Section 10.1. Java Runtime Environment
Section 10.2. Java Development Kit
Section 10.3. Java Program Structure
Section 10.4. Command-Line Tools
Section 10.5. Classpath
Chapter 11. Basic Input and Output
Section 11.1. Standard Streams in, out, and err
Section 11.2. Class Hierarchy for Basic Input and Output
Section 11.3. File Reading and Writing
Section 11.4. Socket Reading and Writing
Section 11.5. Serialization
Section 11.6. Zipping and Unzipping Files
Section 11.7. File and Directory Handling
Chapter 12. Java Collections Framework
Section 12.1. The Collection Interface
Section 12.2. Implementations
Section 12.3. Collection Framework Methods
Section 12.4. Collections Class Algorithms
Section 12.5. Algorithm Efficiencies
Section 12.6. Comparator Interface
Chapter 13. Generics Framework
Section 13.1. Generic Classes and Interfaces
Section 13.2. Constructors with Generics
Section 13.3. Substitution Principle
Section 13.4. Type Parameters, Wildcards, and Bounds
Section 13.5. The Get and Put Principle
Section 13.6. Generic Specialization
Section 13.7. Generic Methods in Raw Types
Chapter 14. Concurrency
Section 14.1. Creating Threads
Section 14.2. Thread States
Section 14.3. Thread Priorities
Section 14.4. Common Methods
Section 14.5. Synchronization
Section 14.6. Concurrent Utilities
Chapter 15. Memory Management
Section 15.1. Garbage Collectors
Section 15.2. Memory Management Tools
Section 15.3. Command-Line Options
Section 15.4. Resizing the JVM Heap
Section 15.5. Interfacing with the GC
Chapter 16. The Java Scripting API
Section 16.1. Scripting Languages
Section 16.2. Script Engine Implementations
Section 16.3. Setting Up Scripting Languages and Engines
Chapter 17. Third-Party Tools
Section 17.1. Development Tools
Section 17.2. Libraries
Section 17.3. IDEs
Section 17.4. Web Application Platforms
Section 17.5. Scripting Languages
Chapter 18. UML Basics
Section 18.1. Class Diagrams
Section 18.2. Object Diagrams
Section 18.3. Graphical Icon Representation
Section 18.4. Connectors
Section 18.5. Multiplicity Indicators
Section 18.6. Role Names
Section 18.7. Class Relationships
Section 18.8. Sequence Diagrams
K. Langer said
This is a model for all reference books in my mind. Clearly written and to the point. There are sections covering all the main aspects of the language. It is well worth getting for any/all Java developers. Even though I know Java, I have been referring to it when I travel.
An easy purchase.
.MA. said
This is a handy pocket reference/guide for the intermediate or advanced programmer. All materials are well-organized and illustrated with concise examples of code. It is "worth it's weight" and should be on every Java programmer's reference bookshelf.
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