Rating: 
Summary: Good book for Beginner / Intermediate Programmers
Review: I have a limited programming background, having completed a couple VB6 courses, and I have some background in C, HTML, and SQL. I'm just now starting my first C++ course. Having had VB prior really helped to prepare me with the object basics, methods, classes, components, and events. I was truly able to understand 99% of the book, including the code examples. Some of the syntax was not explained adequately, but if you do not let it bog you down, most of it you will understand by the time you finish the book.There were alot of calls made to Java methods which are not explained, but the J-Builder v2.01 software which came with my book has a very useful online reference section(go to Help-Java Reference). This reference has an index where you can look up the class heirarchies, descriptions, syntax and usage of all methods and constructors, and much more (Examples of each method and other simple code samples would be nice, though). Most of the book's code samples were challenging enough to be interesting and just long enough to illustrate the concept. There were a number of errors, many of which you can be forewarned about at the book's website. The author encourages personal email questions, but he sends back an automated message saying it will be a few weeks before he can get to your question. I liked that the code samples only had a very limited amount of comment statements, but the author goes over the new concepts in the code line-per-line in the text. For me, the first (7) chapters were the hardest and seemed to cover the essential code basics and object/class concepts, but after that I really felt the material got easier and had a nice flow to it.
Rating: 
Summary: Confusing for beginners, and not much better for others
Review: I'd only recommend Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 Days if nothing else is available. First, let me say that a few have eluded to the "cutesy" writing style the authors intersperse throughout this book. It's not as sickening as they claim; in fact, it's actually one of the saving graces of the book, adding enough humor and "down-to-earthness" to keep the reader somewhat interested in it. My beef is the confusing teaching style Lemay and Cadenhead present. It often leaves the reader frustrated and perplexed by jumping around back and forth in the book searching for a clear explanation on how to do anything within Java. Here's what I mean: frequently, new terminology is only briefly touched upon within a chapter (and it usually doesn't tie in directly with the chapter's subject matter), only to abruptly conclude with "We'll get into this topic more tomorrow" or "we'll cover this more next week". When the topic is reconvened later, you're automatically expected to have a thorough knowledge of it. This leaves you thumbing through previous pages trying to look for any explanation on it. I found that the first seven chapters are especially good (or should I say bad) at this. I can realistically say that at the end of the first week, some beginners still won't know the differences between variables, statements, and methods -- all basic elements taught "in detail". The examples sometimes include elements that aren't even mentioned until several chapters later. As you're going through lines of code, there's the odd syntax with no details on what it actually does within the example. You're just excepted to accept it. If you're new to Java, and like to know what's going on at all times, this would prove to be quite mind-boggling. While this is admittedly unavoidable, there are so many times the authors could've started out with simple concepts (and examples to match them) and "build up" gradually. Speaking of the examples -- I feel there should have been more in each chapter. Unless you're the type who remembers everything after being told only once, you'd need more examples and sample applications and applets to help the material "sink in".
Rating: 
Summary: the best java book!
Review: I have read pretty much every book that the RI CLAN library system has on java and general computer programming and I have never seen a better book on java developement. It taught me almost everything I know about java, and I have read every almost edition. Although I regret that this version does not have as much coverage of threads, awt interfaces, or applets as the 2nd edition, it has better coverage of OOP and I finally figured out how to get the jdk command line tools to work! This book is perfect for anyone of beginner or intermediate knowlege of Java, or it will teach you java and OOP from scratch! Also good to buy as a desk refrence for all those difficult functions.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, didnt go as deep as I wanted
Review: I had never played with Java before, and had no concept of OOP. (I program in Basic, and Perl). I had committed myself to write a commcercial java applet in 15 days. I saw this book (Compiler Edition) in the shop, and grabbed a copy of it and JBuilder 2 and set off The book itself explains things very well, sometimes going a bit slow/long winded over certain concepts. (I got a bit frustrated with this, and went and bought the "Teach yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours" edition as well). I found that its great to get a good idea of Java programming, but that it didnt go into the depth that I required. This book serves as a great introduction to Java, but if you need more nitty gritty, look elswhere.(I found myself using java.sun.com's api reference a lot) With regards to examples and code, everything worked how it should, which was great. Oh, and I met my deadline with 2 days to spare :)
Rating:
Summary: A well-organised tutorial to get you up to speed in Java
Review: I found most of the content in the negative reviews here bewildering. To take some examples: "The code doesn't compile" - yes it does. "They teach you deprecated code" - yes they do. This is because if you want to write applets, you have to use deprecated code. This is reiterated frequently throughout the applet section. They also teach you Java 2 code. "They don't explain the examples" - yes they do, often giving line-by-line explanations. There are a couple of early examples that use yet-to-be-explained code, but they tell you this (it would be impossible to write functioning code with all you learned in day 1). "They don't build on a foundation" - yes they do. The class concept is clearly explained, then the syntax, data types, then you move onto applet writing. I suspect most of the negative contributors here are merely venting their frustration. My only problem with this type of book is that it is unrealistically titled - you will only get through it in 21 days if you don't have a day job, don't take notes, and dont' revise. Other than that, it was one of the better tutorials in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Start
Review: I read two other books on Java while preparing for the SCJP. The problem I had with the SCJP books, is that I felt like I still didn't know Java after I read them. This book filled in that gap for me. I wish I had started with this one, because it assumes that you will be writing some progams in Java other than just taking an exam. This book is broken into 3 primary sections. The first 7 chapters cover the basics including Java concepts, object oriented programming concepts, basic Java, objects, classes, methods, and applets. These chapters provide a good introduction to Java and serve as a foundation for the remaining chapters. The next 7 chapters primarily cover visual java and programming with Swing including components, containers, user interfaces, and graphics. Threads and sound are also coverd. The next 7 chapters introduce more advanced (actually intermediate) topics including packages and class features, error handling, streams, object serialization, sockets, JavaBeans, and database connectivity. The appendicies on configuring the Software Development Kit (SDK) is very helpful to a new programer. There is a good amount of sample code that all runs as designed and compiles without error. The sample code very helpful for grasping the concepts as they are presented. This book is what it was written to be. It's a solid introduction to Java. It does not cover advanced Java, but it does cover enough to get you started. Those who intend to use Java as a primary programming language would will want to augment this introductory text with other books after these concepts are mastered.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for C++ Programmers
Review: I would highly recommend this book to those who already know the C/C++ programming language. The introductory part of the book is short and easy to follow, with detailed instructions on how to set up and install the free Java SDK. However, as the introduction describes object oriented programming (OOP) right off, and gets a little detailed, it may not be practicle for those who have never programmed before. The remaining part of the book focuses on the more advanced topics of Java, such as Swing, where the reader works on graphical applications/applets. All in all, it's a great book, and does a good job teaching you what you need to know in a timely manner.
Rating:
Summary: Much closer to perfect than it is to adequate
Review: One would get very tired lifting all of the beginning Java books currently on the market. The combination of weight and numbers can be overwhelming to someone looking for a book to use in their initial study of the language. As more features are added and considered fundamental, it becomes harder for the author of any book based on a time frame to pick the "essential" topics and cover them in sufficient detail. Therefore, the end result is that all books based on an elapsed time should have the time considered as a guideline rather than as an absolute and that type of book should not be judged too harshly in this area.
With that as a precept, the questions to resolve are threefold. Did the authors choose the appropriate topics?
Are the starting points in a location appropriate for beginners?
Is the coverage sufficient so that the student will have some significant grasp of Java after they complete the book? In this case, all the answers are most definitely affirmative. Cadenhead and Lemay begin with the basics of the fundamental data types, expressions and operators. These concepts are then used to construct simple classes, which are then put together to make other classes via inheritance and interface implementation. Classes are then grouped together to make packages, and the implementation details of import and setting the CLASSPATH environment variable are examined. The first week ends with a lesson covering how to work with threads and exceptions.
Week two is devoted to creating GUI interfaces, handling events and drawing objects, with the topic of the final day being the construction and use of applets. Week three is devoted to some additional basic and advanced topics. Day 15 covers input/output, day 16 describes the serialization and inspection of objects, day 17 shows you how to communicate across a network, on day 18 you work with sound, day 19 is an explanation of how to create and use JavaBeans, the coverage of day 20 is how to move data using JDBC and XML and day 21 covers how to write Java servlets and Java Server Pages (JSPs). The coverage of each of these topics is necessarily brief, and the authors do leave a lot of things out. Nevertheless, I am convinced that enough is covered so that the students leave with a basic grasp of how each concept is used to construct programs.
Are there things that I would have done differently? Absolutely! I would have moved the coverage of input/output so that it was embedded inside the other lessons. Once classes and exceptions are covered, then sending data in and out of files can be done by adding only a few lines to programs whose primary purpose is to demonstrate other things. I would have made more effort to explain how threads can be used and abused in Java programs, covering them in a separate chapter.
In conclusion, this is one of the best beginning Java books on the market. No such book is ever perfect, but this one is much closer to perfect than it is to merely adequate.
Rating:
Summary: betwise
Review: java and learning concepts and basic java languge and the source codes for it;
Rating:
Summary: Not particularly deep, but a good start
Review: "Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days" is a deceptively-named but good tutorial on Java programming (after all, could *really* learn Java in 21 days?). The authors take the reader gently through the major topics of Java: classes, methods, control flow, etc. The examples and the discussions provided are not particularly deep, but for a novice programmer, they are more than sufficient. I would recommend following through the examples and tutorials in the book to get a basic understanding of Java. Decide what areas you want to focus on, and get more in-depth books on those subjects. Don't expect to be a Java expert after reading this book. Two last things: I would recommend this book over O'Reilly's "Learning Java." That particular book is not a tutorial and novice programmers and is poorly written. Also, the second edition of the book will do just fine if you're just interested in learning the basics of Java. The second and third editions are not significantly different, and you can save yourself some real money by getting a copy of the former.
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