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Summary: A book about THINKING
Review: There are many books devoted to Java programming, you name these. And most of them are good enough to teach you how to write in Java. You may consider that it is enough to learn the syntax and some advanced tricks. Wrong! There is more... Read this book, and you will find what it is - THINKING! Just excellent!
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Summary: Best programming book I've ever read
Review: Although it's not perfect. Especially some of the code examples not so easy to understand. But in general, it's the best! Before reading this book, I'm totally new to OOP. Eckel's book have logically lead me from the basics of OOP to more in-depth coverage, together with the Java language. The explaination are very clear and easy to understand, because you see the mechanism. Read this book, plus a book on OO analysis and design, download Sun's reference, and you become an expert!
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Summary: This book stands out...
Review: I read a lot of technical books and this one really stands out. Bruce Eckel is not only a master of OOP and Java, he is also a master teacher. Whereas most books I've read on Java come across as dry regurgitations of Java facts, Bruce tells a good story!What's emphasized is more the why than the how of Java, but mysteriously, by the end of the book, you not only know the why of OOP and the why of Java, you also have a solid understanding of the language Java. It's his subtle development of themes, and just plain good writing, that makes this book the one to buy--and read--if you you want to gain a solid understanding of Java.
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Summary: Super Stuff !
Review: Amazingly its free online .... Nice PDf format ... Mr Eckel is soo COOL !
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Summary: A complete coverage of Java 2
Review: This book provides a excellent coverage of Java 2 language and its components. The examples as Bruce Eckel claims are easy and worth more than real world examples. A prior experience of C/C++ language would however be an asset, though it is claimed by author not necessary it is difficult to skip the detailed references made frequently. This book is definately not for the beginners but if you like to venture then its better to start directly the OOP concepts from chapter 2 rather than more cryptic introduction.
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Summary: The Java Master Book
Review: This book is uncomparable when rating its writing style and dense detail that cannot be discovered in any other Java book. The only knock on this book is the damn freakn'font selection for all code examples. The code examples font is faint, and dizzying to the eye. The coding style Eckel uses is not very textbook, in fact despite his good intention and respect that he has throughout the industry even from his comrades on the C++ Standards commitee, with the likes of C++ inventor Stroustrup, C++ masters Meyer, Coplien, and Koenig, Eckels implementation style would make them vomit with disgust. This is the only complaint on the book, the font style. This may seem minor, but believe me the font style of the book has to be warm and appealing to the eye. It helps to read faster and have a better visual flow from page to page without dreading to reach the code examples when you get there. I emailed Bruce Eckel when he began writing the 2nd Edition and complained about this matter, but apparently one complaint out of his thousands of followers, did not help. With OOA and OOD, this book is simultaneously the best in mastering your thought process to instinctively think Abstractions, Objects, Family of Objects[ Inheritance ], and relational modeling among classes in a system, not to mention his superior explanation of Java I/O and his dense lectures, but interesting, with class access idioms. If there are two books on Java that are a must have in your library, you keep it simple and you get: 1. The Java Programming Language 3rd Edition Author: James Gosling, Ken Arnold 2. Thinking in Java 2nd Edition Author: Bruce Eckel
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Summary: Excellent for both code and concepts...
Review: I come from a procedural language background, and much of the object-oriented concepts and terminology are new for me. I've read and worked through other books (of the "Teach Yourself ..." variety), and I've come away still trying to piece together the overall framework with little success. This book is excellent for providing you with the concepts of what OOP is and how it relates to Java.
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Summary: The thinking person's java book
Review: This book is not "Teach Yourself Java while watching TV" or "Learn Java in 3 minutes a day" - this is really more of a comparison to many other languages, along with lucid explanations of java's unique features. You should have some programming experience before picking up this book. C++ or smalltalk experience would be helpful. Any structured language though would be good to get started. The reason you should have SOME background is that the author spends a lot of time drawing parallels between java and other languages, and it helps to have some perspective. At least if you don't know about the language he's talking about, then at least you can fill in the language of your choice and try to draw your own parallel. The chapters on garbage collection and exceptions were very helpful. Serialization became clear to me. Good coverage of the difference between the stack and the heap and why you have to "new" a class but not a primitive data type.
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Summary: Great book for C++ programmers
Review: If you are a C++ programmer, probably you may want to choose this one as a beginning guide for Java. I admit that the first half of the book is a little bit too much for anyone having C++ background. but it is not that bad to fresh your memory and to pick up some details of Java. Just go through it quickly and you will be able to find some real meat later. Thank you especially for the electronic version.
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Summary: Great Start for OOP
Review: If you have some procedural programming experience already then this book will be great for you to switch to the world of OOP. If not, then take it slow, but it can still work. I took an OOP course featuring C++ and got lost quickly, but in just a few chapters of Bruce Eckels' book, he helped me to understand what I had missed. The book starts out with a great foundation of explaining what objects are, then tells us that Everything is and object, and explains why. It explained these concepts in simple terms. The book then pays a little respect to program flow. For those who already have had programming experience, this is a quick read. Then it is back to the OOP ideas and then on into some more advanced Java topics. Excellent grouping and interesting section titles keep it a relatively light read. It covers the Java language, not just applets. That was refreshing.
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