Rating: 
Summary: not for beginners
Review: The book is absolutely not for beginners but the book is one of my best java books i have never seen. I think the book should be more good examples.
Rating:
Summary: Great but not muscular throughout
Review: This is overrated by some reviewers.
First of all, this book will suit a C++ programmer most. The writer expects the reader to have some programming experience, so you need some programming experience to read and comprehend the book. If you are a C++ programmer trying to get a taste of Java, this book must be in your shelf. Most chapters of the book are excellent, but some are very dull.
The book covers the basics of the language very very well. Whenever I had some query about the basics, I opened the book, and on almost every occasion,I found the answer.
The chapters on GUI are dull, those should have had figures so the reader could get the picture of what the GUI would be like for the respective code. The book should have had more figures.
... This books is based on Java 2 version 1.3 RC 1. A new edition, third edition, of the book is about to hit the shelves.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't agree that it is a good book
Review: After I bought this book I feel that this book is so unorganized,
the only good part is network programming chapter. If you don't want to waste your money, don't buy this book, try the Java 2 complete or some other book better than this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't think twice about getting this book
Review: In my opinion this is the best Java book for beginners out there. The material is easy to understand and chronologically divided. Each chapter is full of excellent samples (that actually work.) You will learn concepts of OOP and how Java fits in it. Bruce explains object, class, inheritance, polymorphism, etc, and everything is followed by great examples.
Bruce was right on target by making an electronic version of the book available for free download. That way he has gathered enormous feedback before even publishing the book. Check his website for other interesting books, free downloads and seminars.
Rating: 
Summary: Complicated Examples
Review: Excelent book with a good logical sequence. But Bruce's examples are sometimes so complex that it's harder to understand the five level class diagram than the theory behind it.
Rating:
Summary: Some good chapters, some terrible
Review: I consider myself an intermediate-advanced OO programmer, I am fairly experienced with C++ and Python and decided to learn Java from this book, but there were some chapters in this book that made me want to hurl. In particular the chapter on inner classes made me think this Eckel guy just doesn't have a clue how to write. It was mindless example after example of the syntax of inner classes with no real examples of how they would be used in real world programming.... I almost put the book down on the weakness of that chapter alone.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good but needs better examples...
Review: As a C++ programmer I realy liked this book. It has a lot of emphasis on OOP and is consistent and thorough with regard to Java's OO features, describing their benefit and implementation. It also briefly touches on subjects such as program analysis and design, UML and extreme programming which gives the programmer an appreciation of these topics and of the whole development life cycle. In addition, chapters that discuss the API's for I/O, GUI's, Threading and Distributed Computing are really helpful in emphasising what's important and available to the Java programmer. I also like the pace of this book which is mainly due to how it is broken down. My only gripe is that a lot of the code examples are pretty much useless from a practical point of view. Although they may demonstrate a particular feature, the fact that they are so improbably contrived and do not demonstrate any practical benefit to a problem in the real world reduces their impact. Case in point: Chapter 8 on Inner Classes, some of the examples here are pretty dumb in what they do. Also, is anyone else sick of Fruit and Shape themes when OO is described? Okay they are useful themes for demonstrating concept but, hey, give us some Meat too please.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best java programming books
Review: A lot of people want to find a shortcut to learning Java.With the popularity of Java,a lot of "misconceptions" about Programming have come into existence (And they have been well exploited by "Technical writers" and leading "Dr/Professors". I never buy a book that says written by "DR Know it all" because I think that their brain cells are dead and their writing makes sense to them and only them).I am writing all this because I spent too much time and money trying to learn Java beyond the basics using "ShakesPear" style books .In my opinion "newbies" should learn a programming language like C because it is small and you get the "Feel" for programming.OOP is nothing more than concepts.If you have no programming experience , this book is not for you.This is one of the best books written on Java (Other being Just Java by Peter Linden).The examples are short where they need to be and the text is written in "Simple English".It tells you about the nuts and bolts of Java Language.I'll say that it is a book for "Java Novices" and I use this and Just Java books as reference.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't have the magic
Review: Some books have a magical ability to grab your attention and convey the information right to that part of your brain that really "gets it." This is not one of those books. Still, it's a good reliable reference source for serious Java coders. Use this after you "get it" some other way.
Rating:
Summary: Good depth, but reader needs some competency already
Review: I am a C/C++ programmer who has benefited greatly from Eckel's other big book, Thinking in C++. I have been sufficiently impressed with that book that I thought his Java book would be just as excellent. The first portion of this book (after the obligatory stuffing at the beginning) is a brief primer on OO concepts. I found this section to be helpful because I already understand the fundamental elements of OOP, and I was looking to clarify what I already know. There were a precious few examples to help make his points, and that's all good, but there needs to be more. There were several keywords thrown about, with no prior mention (and, in some cases, statements like "You'll learn more about this in later chapters"). In a few cases, pulling them together into a program is left as an exercise, and the solutions are not included with the book. For someone with a foundation already, it is sufficient, but for someone with less knowledge it will leave the reader frustrated. Also, this is not intended to be a complete study on OOP, and the reader, beginner or advanced, should keep this in mind. Just as in his other book, the author goes into great depth to the point of being wordy about different topics. He explains in detail the particulars of the topic he is trying to explain, and he gives examples that focus on the topic at hand and tend to avoid fluff. This is, in my opinion, the strongest aspect of this book. Another point about this book that pleases me is that, unlike most other tomes on Java, Eckel avoided hitting graphical programming until MUCH later in the book. This is excellent, in my opinion, in that muddying in the waters with graphics, message passing, etc. only adds confusion -- cover the absolute basics first, *then* get to the "cool" topics like graphics. As he explains the Java language, Eckel often explains why certain language aspects are present, and the decisions that led up to their implementation. So, the reader not only knows what, but why. This will benefit many (myself included), but some people - especially those in a hurry to get about the business of learning the language particulars with no regard for why - might be frustrated by the wordiness. One thing that can be very annoying is that the author constantly refers back to C and C++. For those who know either of those languages (particularly C++), this is a good point of reference. For those who don't, it can be a sore spot. The book does include an electronic copy of Thinking in C on the CD, but chances are high that the reader bought this book to learn Java, not C. Most Java books teach Java as a standalone language -- this one relies a bit heavily on C++ as a point of reference. Overall, this is a good book, but not perfect. Those readers who already know C++ in particular will reap the biggest harvest from this book, but everyone can benefit from this book.
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