Version 5.0 of the Java 2 Standard Edition SDK is the most important upgrade since Java first appeared a decade ago. With Java 5.0, you'll not only find substantial changes in the platform, but to the language itself-something that developers of Java took five years to complete. The main goal of Java 5.0 is to make it easier for you to develop safe, powerful code, but none of these improvements makes Java any easier to learn, even if you've programmed with Java for years. And that means our bestselling hands-on tutorial takes on even greater significance. Learning Java is the most widely sought introduction to the programming language that's changed the way we think about computing. Our updated third edition takes an objective, no-nonsense approach to the new features in Java 5.0, some of which are drastically different from the way things were done in any previous versions. The most essential change is the addition of "generics", a feature that allows developers to write, test, and deploy code once, and then reuse the code again and again for different data types. The beauty of generics is that more problems will be caught during development, and Learning Java will show you exactly how it's done. Java 5.0 also adds more than 1,000 new classes to the Java library. That means 1,000 new things you can do without having to program it in yourself. That's a huge change. With our book's practical examples, you'll come up to speed quickly on this and other new features such as loops and threads. The new edition also includes an introduction to Eclipse, the open source IDE that is growing in popularity. Learning Java , 3rd Edition addresses all of the important uses of Java, such as web applications, servlets, and XML that are increasingly driving enterprise applications. The accompanying CD includes the Java 5.0 SDK for Windows, Linux, and Solaris, plus the Eclipse IDE, the NetBeans IDE, and the many example programs from the book.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 66 Ratings

Waaaaaaay too fast.... - 2008-11-21
Reviewer Rating:
I've been learning Java for half a year now, and I found this book to be going way to fast. Chapters 1 - 3, covers somewhat complex concepts such as multi-threading, interfaces and policy files. But only in chapter 4 do they explain the primitive types.

This is not a tutorial for beginners. You have to know considerably amount of Java before you can fully understand all the concepts in this book. The good thing is that they jump into OOP immediately, and explaining it very thoroughly.

My last bad point about this book is that when they give you an example, usually about 2 pages long, and you have about 15% of an idea of what's going on. Fortunately, they do provide an explanation, however it's usually about 15 pages long. The examples are way too complicated for chapter 1 - 3.

The language is very technical, but it seems easy enough to understand when you think carefully about it. Not a horrible, but also not too good of a book.

Green programmer likes this book... - 2009-02-22
Reviewer Rating:
As someone who had absolutely no experience with any kind of programming (including C++), I think this book does a nice job of breaking down java projects into manageable segments. I appreciate that the book uses Eclipse programs, because it is not too hard to figure out. I would recommend this to someone who would like to learn Java using Eclipse.

THE book to buy! - 2009-04-02
Reviewer Rating:
If you are not an Idiot or a Dummy, and want to learn Java, save yourself some money in the future by purchasing this book. It may be the first, last and only book you need to buy. If I was teaching a class in Java, this is the book I would select.

Highly Suggest this book! - 2008-10-22
Reviewer Rating:
I fell in love with this book from the start. I was tired of programming command line c++, and I dont feel ready for GUI programming in c++ just yet. I was looking for a book that would introduce gui programming. This book did just that. the first chapter introduces GUI programming from the start with a hello Java program that only spans about 10 lines! And , for being a beginning Java programmer, I have to say GUI programming in java is quite trivial, the way it should be.

I will definitely advise using this book with a refrence book like Java How to Program, 7th Edition by Harvey M. Deitel and Paul J. Deitel . Also if you havent done any c++ before but want to grasp OO design , this book will be extremely fundamental----> The Object-Oriented Thought Process (3rd Edition) . Also , for the future software developer, I highly reccoment UML distilled or any UML book , You should never start programming without laying out a plan of attack first . :D , any way buy this book its great to accompany any java books you have.

great! - 2008-05-31
Reviewer Rating:
It's not probably the best Java book, but is very easy for beginners, thanks for your help

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