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Summary: My Favorite Java Book of All
Review: ... and I own a whole bunch of 'em. Really brought out many concepts that I hadn't known about or haven't been mentioned in the dozens of other books I have. It is a more advanced book but certainly what I needed after getting my feet wet. Some stuff is outdated by now, but Eckel's explanations of how Java works and how it was meant to be used still holds true. Many great explanations abound, but a couple of good ones off the top of my head: how an object is initialized/constructed (did you know there is an order to things?) and wonderful examples on polymorphism.
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Summary: The Book Delivers
Review: The book shows you how to think in Java. But the reader is also assumed that he can think in C++. The code examples are not so friendly, and overuses the println method.
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Summary: A book which every programmer must have.
Review: I am a graduate student at the University of Totonto. I think that its a great book if you have a lot of experience with C++ / Java -- nice examples, tech vocabulary, good to learn some tricks, great reference. Beginners will not benefit from this book though. The word "introduction" is very misleading.
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Summary: Good book. Definitely not for beginners though.
Review: I am a Technical Architect at a consulting company in New York. I knew C++ and Java when I bought that book and went through it without any problems. On the other hand, if you don't know OOP well, you will get totally lost in the first chapter, which ironically is called "Introduction to objects". I teach OOP classes at my company and when I gave this book to my less experienced students they didn't understand a thing from the first chapter! Bruce talks about OOP like everything was obvious and doesn't care to explain it in more detail.To summarize: a great book if you have a lot of experience with C++ / Java -- nice examples, tech vocabulary, good to learn some tricks, great reference. Beginners will not benefit from this book though. The word "introduction" is very misleading.
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Summary: Useful 2nd Java resource
Review: When I initially picked up the book I thought "wow" this book investigates parts of Java that many other introductory/intermediate books fail to cover. I still use it now to give me further insight into various aspects of Java which I am a little unclear on. Where I think this book fails is in providing clear and concise examples that you can use and apply. If I need an immediate solution to a problem this is one text that I won't use.
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Summary: terrible, not for beginners, must know C++
Review: I knew C and C++ so I bought this book. No beginner could ever understand the first chapters. He starts with the most complicated C++ concepts and then moves to the code. You don't see a program until the 5th chapter. No creativity (all in black and white, NO color). The only good chapter is the chapter on buttons,text boxes, etc. If I didn't already know C++ I would have been completely clueless. Do not try to use as a teaching textbook; this book is for reference only.
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Summary: The best book for beginner as well as experienced programmer
Review: This is the first book you would like to start with. It has good OOP concepts with some good examples. The best part is, it makes you think in an object oriented way of doing things. If you have C or C++ experience, you can grasp things quickly and easily. Java In a Nutshell is good reference book, probably you would like to read that book after reading thinking in java.
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Summary: Definitely one to consider if you're interested in Java
Review: As a software developer hungry to learn, I find myself sorting through a large number of computer books to find the well-written ones that are worth investing my time and money in. After reading and using Eckel's Thinking in Java, I consider it to be among the best books I've found which explain Java in depth. You'll also want to check out Eckel's web site, which includes all source code for the book ready to download and practice with.
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Summary: An outstanding achievement....
Review: A *must* on any Java bookshelf
Rating:
Summary: The best Java book I've read thus far...
Review: Eckel's book sets out to do what a lot of introductory books don't even attempt: to provide you with a mental framework so that you can approach programming problems with confidence. Yes, there is some overlap from chapter to chapter, but not too much. If you've read other introductory Java books, trust me...this one goes deeper, has better examples, and has better prose.
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