Miguel Andrews said
I am extremely disappointed with this book. I thought that since this text was written by some of people responsible for the development of the java language that it would be very reliable. This is not so. There are some simple code errors - I found one in the second example in the text in their description of the GridLayout command. These kinds of errors will cause your code to not compile, and for a new learner makes learning difficult.
Further the code examples are usually incomplete and you will find yourself constantly going back and forth through the text in order to write a complete application. I mean that's good for a Dungeon and Dragon's book but not for an instructive text.
In closing, I will just say that this book is not a good investment for persons trying to become proficient in the art of swing programming.
Tri said
Very comprehensive Swing tutorial... It's more of a reference book for Swing. It contains examples for everything you need in regards to swing. However it only has about 3 pages on J2D. So... If you're looking for J2D API you'll probably want to look somewhere else...
Patrick Thompson said
3.5 stars
Having used the book a number of times I find it an excellent first reference for doing most relatively simple to intermediate things with swing. It has excellent organization and index so finding what you need is quite easier and fast. There are many code samples- snippets, not full listings- showing how are use the major and most heavily used features of most components. It is also written in an approachable and helpful manner. It disavows exhaustive coverage of every single feature ( Try Swing by Robinson and Vorobiev- ISBN 193011088X for that)
This book is not a tutorial on java. There is no overview of the language. There is a disc with code listing. The style is generally of a bunch of small, self contained lessons on how to use a component- hence the usefulness as a first reference (at the cost of cohesiveness and an overriding arch). Where it falls down is when you progress beyond beginner-intermediate level with swing and want major coverage of obscure features. This probably isn't a problem for most of us not needing to attain guru level swing-skill. I think a solid example on how to use the MVC pattern (Model View Controller where Swing addresses the View) would have been a nice (and appreciated!) addition. From personal experience there is a tendency to put too much Model in the View rather than separate them out so changes/updating through versions is simpler. Learning this lesson is a must for anybody working with GUI's.
At times too there is the annoyance of not including things you would consider necessary, for example an explicit example of a combo box model and so forth. This devalues the work to some extent. A brief reminder of annoymous inner classes (as event handlers of choice) should also be included as too perhaps some mention of threads and thread safety. Thus the book requires a certain level and certain approach. Just remember it isn't a step-by-step, "let's build an application" tutorial through Swing.
So overall: a good book to start with and keep handy as more of a easy reference than a tutorial (I like paper references rather than online ones so I maybe baised in this respect). It's light on some areas, particuarly higher level and greater depth stuff. It starts at a reasonable level if you have some experience with Java (a typical book like Core Java by Horstmann covers easily up to and enough Swing to get you to the point where this book is a reference rather than a how-to). As a how-to for a novice I think it may be beyond many of them. Swing: A Beginner's Guide by Herbert Schildt may be better in this regard. If you don't mind the short, sharp discrete (disjointed) approach to concepts than you might not mind this. Otherwise it may be frustrating.
J. Villa said
I've looked at many HORRIBLE Swing books, This one is great and recommended for anyone that is interested in doing anything practical with Swing or Java GUI's other than making a colored triangle in an applet window. I cant stress enough.. BUY THIS BOOK! i'm surprised this didn't have at least a 4 and 1/2 stars.
A compliment that I use to work with this book is the Core Java Fundamentals vol.1.
Hari Seldon said
The JFC Swing Tutorial Second Edition is among the very best how-to-do it programming books I've read---and I've read scores! For this reason, I felt compelled to write a review of the book, admiring its organization, applauding its authors and encouraging progammers who need to to write Java GUIs to hurry up and by it. But then I read Thomas Duff's review; I became redundant. My recommendation is to read Mr. Duff's excellent review---knowing that I agree with every word of it.
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