Are you looking for a deeper understanding
of the Java™ programming language so that you can write code
that is clearer, more correct, more robust, and more reusable? Look
no further! Effective Java™, Second
Edition, brings together seventy-eight
indispensable programmer’s rules of thumb: working,
best-practice solutions for the programming challenges you
encounter every day.
This highly anticipated new edition of the
classic, Jolt Award-winning work has been thoroughly updated to
cover Java SE 5 and Java SE 6 features introduced since the first
edition. Bloch explores new design patterns and language idioms,
showing you how to make the most of features ranging from generics
to enums, annotations to autoboxing.
Each chapter in the book consists of several
“items” presented in the form of a short, standalone
essay that provides specific advice, insight into Java platform
subtleties, and outstanding code examples. The comprehensive
descriptions and explanations for each item illuminate what to do,
what not to do, and why.
Highlights include:
New coverage of generics, enums,
annotations, autoboxing, the for-each loop, varargs, concurrency
utilities, and much more
Updated techniques and best practices on
classic topics, including objects, classes, libraries, methods, and
serialization
How to avoid the traps and pitfalls of
commonly misunderstood subtleties of the language
Focus on the language and its most
fundamental libraries: java.lang, java.util, and, to a lesser
extent, java.util.concurrent and java.io
Simply put, Effective Java™,
Second Edition, presents the most practical,
authoritative guidelines available for writing efficient,
well-designed programs.
Subscriber Reviews
Average Rating: 
Based on 56 Ratings
"My all time favorite book" - by Anonymous on 03-FEB-2012
Reviewer Rating:
It goes over many different areas in Java, and captures some of the most elegant solutions to common day to day problems most developers encounter. Highly Recommended..
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" Good Book" - by Shamal Jayakody on 12-OCT-2011
Reviewer Rating:
One of the best Books on good programming practices. Joshua Bloch was a good PhD Student at Carnegie Mellon. He developed Collections framework for Java at Sun. It may be over-designed.
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"Effectiv Java" - by Anonymous on 25-AUG-2011
Reviewer Rating:
Gives good explanations.
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"From proficient to expert: read this book!" - by Christopher on 18-FEB-2011
Reviewer Rating:
Having coded in Java for many years, I would consider myself an expert. I read the first edition of this book a long time ago and felt I knew quite a bit. When I first saw this book, I scanned the contents and thought, "I know this stuff - little difference from the first edition".
However, knowing that Joshua Bloch is a Java Guru and has a very readable and enjoyable style, and having very much enjoyed the first edition, I thought I would give it a try anyway.
Was I surprised. While there are places where I have said to myself "I know this", there were many more places where I said, "Huh...I did not know this. Good thing I'm reading this". There truly are gold nuggets of knowledge in here. If you are a serious Java coder who really wants to know the best way to use the language, you cannot avoid this book--even if you have read the first edition. Joshua has added advice due to the language changes since 1.5 and has other advice as well. And you need to read every word, both as a refresher (I didn't forget some points) and as an upgrade due to the growth in the language.
In fact, some of the advice here transcends languages can could be applied to .Net and other languages. But all-in-all this is a Java focused book and worth the time to read. In fact, I am certain you will need to read it more than once to soak it all in thoroughly. And if you don't, you will want to refer to it several times in the coming years.
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"Well worth the read" - by Michael Willer on 29-JAN-2011
Reviewer Rating:
Some hard learned lessons here. And some new insights even for seasoned developers.
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