Java(TM) Programming Language, The (4th Edition) (Java Series)

Java(TM) Programming Language, The (4th Edition) (Java Series)
Authors
Ken Arnold, James Gosling, David Holmes
ISBN
0321349806
Published
27 Aug 2005
Purchase online
amazon.com

Direct from the creators of the Java programming language, the completely revised fourth edition of The Java Programming Language is an indispensable resource for novice and advanced programmers alike. Developers around the world have used previous editions to quickly gain a deep understanding of the Java programming language, its design goals, and how to use it most effectively in real-world development.

Page 2 of 2
  1. Editorial Reviews
  2. Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews

Shashikant Penumarthy said
This book is basically the Java Language Specification (JLS) but simplified, focused and made relevant to real-world programming. If you program in Java and you haven't at least scanned through this book, you are almost certainly missing a few insights that could make your Java knowledge more precise and complete.

This book doesn't just cover the language, but also some important libraries, with lots of good sample code and therefore makes a great desktop reference. The sample code is simple, as it should be because when you are scanning for an answer, you don't want a fully-fledged application example, but a snippet showing the usage idiom. However, this is not Java in a "nutshell", nor is it a pocket reference. Its a tome that you will come back to for many years unless Java changes significantly, like it did from 1.4 to 1.5.

If you are just starting out with Java, this book is overkill. It takes quite a bit of patience and maturity with programming before one can handle a book of such detail. However, if you've been playing around with Java for more than an year and want to work towards becoming an expert, this is an indispensable resource.

Yuanchyuan Sheu said
As my current company is a Java house. I have requested them to buy me a copy of this book. After reading with it for a while, I would like to make the following comments:

1. This is one of the better books (best in the Java books that I have read) in Java.

2. Although this book is directly from the creators, it is not current. It covers Java 5.0 instead of Java 6. The most up to date tutorial (reference) could be found on the sun website.

3. In light of 2. and from my personal perspective, Java is not as technically involved (for good and for bad, depends on your goals), therefore, a dedicated reference from the definite authorities is not required.

4. This book is not as well-selling as comparable classics in other programming languages, for instance, C and C++. This can be observed from the fact that this book is only currently on its 5th printing. Again, this echos my points in 2. and 3.

5. Java does not provide the same kind of intellectual stimulation as in other powerful languages as C or C++. This is reflected in the quality of the core books in this programming langauge. There are Java counter parts to the C++ programming language books, for example, "Effective C++" (that would be "Effective Java"), but they are laugh stocks if you come from a C++ back ground. The quality of these books are certainly not on par with the other books in C or C++. Here, I second the opinion of Stroustrup, that if you think people are morons, only morons will use your language.

6. Therefore, if you intend to learn and program in Java, this is a fine book. Otherwise, Java is a stupid programming language and this is not a book for the very smart people.

7. I would not recommand learning Java as the first programming language. It could bring you bad habits and limit your eye sights down the road in your career. Yes, Java makes it easier for the programmers, but after learning (only) something so easy, what else do you think you are capable of doing?

Cirino Silva Tovar said
I am very satisfied with this Java(TM) Programming Language, The (4th Edition) (The Java Series) book because it includes all necesary information to learn about the language and make exercises, It is great for me and I recomend it very much.

Ram Sriharsha said
and would like to learn Java, then this is the book for you. It provides a very good discussion on all important topics in Core Java at a level that would suit a person who understands the basics of object oriented programming and wants to learn Java. There is a nice discussion on threading and even the Reflection API which is not usually covered in introductory texts in Java finds a place here...furthermore it is written by the founder of Java and it shows..the text is lucid without running the risk of being terse, and there are enough examples to illustrate the key points. Overall I would highly recommend this book to any programmer wishing to learn Java.

Roger said
every programming language supposedly has two books: one tutorial, and the other a reference manual. the tutorial's strength lies in illuminating examples and progressive organization of the materials, while the reference book should shine with conciseness and rigorousness.

this book organizes the topics in a weird way, and the examples lack insights. one can judge this by looking at the "exception" chapter: verbose and not to the point.



You might also like...

Comments

Contribute

Why not write for us? Or you could submit an event or a user group in your area. Alternatively just tell us what you think!

Our tools

We've got automatic conversion tools to convert C# to VB.NET, VB.NET to C#. Also you can compress javascript and compress css and generate sql connection strings.

“The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it's too late.” - Seymour Cray