Rating: 
Summary: Just what I was looking for
Review: In my personal persute of high education I endevor to learn java programing for web page development but found that the book that I was using "Core Web Programming" had left out some necessary information that was eccential to using what the book was trying to teach through examples. Probably just an oversite. this book however did not forget to include what the other forgot to mention assuming that it was obvious or simply forgetting because it seemed so elementarly to them. The information in this book thus far has been much easyer to understand. It is well layed out and presented in a way that allows the reader to grasp what it is talking about rather than talking above the reader's head. Having learned a bit about other programming languges I find that this book is suitable for even people whom have programmed before but doesn't assume that you know everything or the meaning of every term.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Book
Review: It was overly rated but still is a good book to start with. I'd recommend the Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in Java".
Rating:
Summary: Best book to learn Java
Review: Ivor Horton has once again produced an exceptional beginner's book for Java. I have reviewed many beginner books on Java in the search for a textbook for an "Introduction to Java" class that I teach at Hofstra University. Few of these books have met the goal of providing a solid base of knowledge upon which a programmer can build. Ivor Horton's "Beginning Java" is one of those few. This book is an excellent introduction to Java for anyone who has a basic understanding of programming and is willing to apply some effort to learn the language. Horton proceeds at a rapid pace to cover virtually every important topic in Java outside of the Enterprise Edition. Starting with the basics of the Java language Horton explains the Java syntax in great detail. He then goes on to cover exceptions, streams, utility classes, threads, GUI (with a concentration on Swing), and file processing. In addition, Horton covers all the important new features of the 1.4 release including more than 100 pages on XML. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter using extensive, well designed and clearly explained examples. Although the book covers a wide range of topics, it does not treat any of them lightly. Many introductory books fall short in the very important topic of object oriented technique. Horton does an excellent job of both explaining OO and then using it in his many examples. Unlike other books that you may read and discard, this is a book that will continue to provide help far into your Java career.
Rating:
Summary: Start here.
Review: New to Java? Learning it for work? Class? Entertainment? Unless you're new to programming (in which case I recommend Java for Dummies), start with this book. Covers all major programming aspects to get a basic core understanding of java. Since you learned to walk before you learned to run...a good foundation is always essential.My only gripe with the book is that covers nearly everything at the root of the SDK except for LOGGING. I'm unsure why Wrox / Horton left this important section out...logging is part of the SDK as of release 1.4.X, and crucial to monitor all types of appliations (middle-ware, servlets, javaserver pages).
Rating:
Summary: Start here.
Review: New to Java? Learning it for work? Class? Entertainment? Unless you're new to programming (in which case I recommend Java for Dummies), start with this book. Covers all major programming aspects to get a basic core understanding of java. Since you learned to walk before you learned to run...a good foundation is always essential. My only gripe with the book is that covers nearly everything at the root of the SDK except for LOGGING. I'm unsure why Wrox / Horton left this important section out...logging is part of the SDK as of release 1.4.X, and crucial to monitor all types of appliations (middle-ware, servlets, javaserver pages).
Rating: 
Summary: Good for professional developers
Review: The book is good for professional programmers. It is over 1200 pages. It is too much. For the beginner, Lemay's book, published today, (8/17/2002) is much better. For training purposes, Horstmann or Deitel book is better depending on the topics you wish to learn. Yes, SDK 1.4 is the compiler to use now. Every time a new book on Java is out, it is better than all the old books. It is very competitive!
Rating:
Summary: obsolete items
Review: The first chapter I read from this book was on threading. It mentioned about stop() method. hm... this method has been deprecated in version 1.4 So I wonder, did they just change the cover of the 1.2 book and make it 1.4? Or, they actually revise the content to reflect this is the new Java version 1.4. I think it was written before 1.4 release came out. I haven't gone to wrok.com web site to see if there is an up-to-date information on this; hopefully the author is proactive about this.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book - You should purchase it
Review: This book covers all the topics that you need to understand Java. Wrox books are awesome to begin with, and this author is dead on the mark. This book will be good for any NEW programmer as well as those who know OTHER languages.
Rating:
Summary: Good Reference, good tutorial, if you like math / graphics
Review: This book is a great reference to Java language and how to program it. It also has an overly complicated/not well explained example in using ModelViewController pattern to program a shape drawing program. I also agree with other reviewers who complain he uses mathematical examples too much. Hint - if you hated geometry, buy a different book. But, if you have a sold HIgh School math / graphics background, I strongly recommend this book to learn a lot about java. It still is not comprehensive, but it's a great serious first book to learn java from.
Rating:
Summary: Great For Beginners
Review: This book is very thorough in it's coverage. It doesn't delve into the "why" as much as the Head First Java book does, but it certainly tackles the how-to very well (at great lengths sometimes). It's also a different style than the Head First series of books. It has more of a traditional feel about it. Beginners that want to approach Java from every angle might do well to opt for both Head First Java and this book.
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