Rating: 
Summary: Try before you buy
Review: Before you buy this book, go to your local bookstore and read the second chapter. If it makes sense to you, get on line and buy it from Amazon. If, on the other hand, the chapter reads like a series of magical incantations pulled out of thin air, run the other way! There is absolutely nothing worse than reading a technical book where the authors keep on telling you "not to worry if you don't understand this for now because it will be covered in detail later." I am glad I bought the book used for half price!
Rating: 
Summary: Best Java book if you have a Visual Basic background!
Review: Coming from a Visual Basic background, a lot of other Java books weren't as helpful as this one (I bought the 3rd Edition of the Tutorial). The beginning chapters on OOP were very well written, I think it was the only Java book I've perused where every sentence made sense the first time I read it. The authors' use of metaphors to help make a point is done just right, not too little and not too much. If you have *some* experience with programming techniques, even just doing some .BAT files, I think you'll do well with this book. I had started reading Bruce Eckel's "Thinking in Java" before this one, but I think the best sequence for anyone else struggling with the transition from Visual Basic, etc. to Java is as follows: - first read the Java Tutorial (3rd edition) and work through the exercises at end of each chapter
- second, read Peter van der Linden's "Just Java 2" for a very readable (sometimes funny) way to wade a little deeper into how Java does things.
- finally, and I have yet to do this myself, read Bruce Eckels' "Thinking in Java" to really wrap your head around object oriented programming and thinking like a Java guru.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Deserves It!
Review: dont you get sick of all these 5-star reviews ...? i sure do. but this time, i liked this book so much, i am sending one in anyway. i don't mean to overstate things, and no, i am not related to Sun OR any of the authors, but this is simply one of the best 'computer books' i've ever read, even though it came from a vendor, and even though it's title (not to mention its topic) is rather pedestrian. here's why: 1) unlike many of the 'teach yourself Java' books, it finds just the right level of metaphor. am i the only one tired of the use of fruit, etc. when explaining objects? this book does that a little, but it also relates everything back to real-world problems that are complex enough to matter but simple enough to be graspable. 2) no irritating humour. I'm sorry, but i have had enough of computer-book authors who can't restrain their wit (like Bill Vaughan, so is otherwise a great writer). 3) a great explanation of threading. in all the other java books, i gave up after a few pages. i read the threading chapter in this book while driving home, and it made complete sense the first time round! 4) NO TYPOS. actually, i found one this morning. page 372, line 4, there is an extra hyphen. but that's it! it is almost unheard of, in my experience, anyway, to find such high quality in a 'computer book'. and personally, i find it insulting to spend $... on a book only to find the author didn't even proof their work. 5) after reading an explanation of interfaces in at least 4 other places, i THINK i finally get it, thanks to this book! ONE BIG BEEF: having the answers to the exercises available only on the web is a major irritation. what were they thinking? for one thing, sun.com always seems to be the slowest site on the web. and that's assuming you have a networked PC handy, which i did not when i read this book. i also agree that the space taken up by references to sample code was distracting and useless. on the other hand, there were 1 or 2 places (in the Swing chapter in particular) where the book did NOT include a printout of the complete source, which it should have. notwithstanding the preceding comment, i believe this book was about right. it wisely omitted JDBC and stopped at a fairly skimpy coverage of Swing, which is correct, IMHO, in a book at this level. i also don't need another 4" thick book full of screen prints and fluff, which is what many of the competing books have. all in all, i found that despite my interest in Java being modest at best, i literally could not put this book down. i read it almost nonstop cover to cover. no, i am not a freak, normally i fall asleep after two chapters. solid writing, well scoped, and near-perfect execution earn this a *****.
Rating: 
Summary: Woefully Inadequate on Basics
Review: For someone already familiar with C type programming this is probably an excellent book. It has lots of examples, great linked online resources, a pretty good index, and is one of the most error-free technical books I have read in 5 years of programming. However, this is NOT the book for those with no C (or maybe VB) type programming background. The authors jump right in using the Java language. While this makes it more interesting it leaves non-C programmers to wonder about the constructs. Examples area great IF they explain everything new that is introduced. For example, the following are used in the first part of the book: String[ ] args
String args[ ]
String[ ][ ] But it is not until nearly halfway through the book (end of Ch 4 of 10) that array constructs are discussed. And even then I don't recall any discussion of the difference between the first and second example above. Another example: Sleep((int)(Math.random() ...)) What is this? Casting maybe? Casting is not even in the index so you just have to guess. This book needs 2 things to make it excellent: First, an appendix that clearly and thoroughly explains the constructs, syntax rules, and naming conventions - all in one place. For example, what do the curly braces signify, why are empty parens or empty curly braces or semi-colons used, when do you use String[ ] args vs String args[ ] - the works. Secondly, it needs more comments in the examples, including the reasoning involved (eg why variable was declared outside instead of inside method) and an explanation when anything new is used. Admittedly, experienced programmers will not want heavily commented examples, so making those available on line would be a good solution.
Rating: 
Summary: Good if you are familiar with OO concepts
Review: I bought this book with the expectation that I could learn the basics of the Java programming langauge. I think this book would be fine if you have a good object oriented background. However coming from a VB/LotusScript background with basic OO understanding I found that once I started getting into the Inheritance and then the Interfaces section I was finding it difficult to grasp the concepts. Also the example exercises seem to assume that you can take the knowledge learnt in the chapter and be able to write your own code from scratch, short of looking at the answers and learning little I found this book dissappointing, I think there needs to be more example code especially on the more difficult concepts and further explanation on these areas.
Rating:
Summary: Dont waste your money!
Review: I dont know why this book has got so many good reviews.
After reading the book, I get the feeling that the author was not sure about a lot of concepts. I find a lot of contradictory statements here. Buy something like the Java Cookbook.
Rating:
Summary: horrible book
Review: I have no idea what the other reviewers saw in this book. I have programming experience, and I found that some of the sections in this book were confusing. This book mentions concepts in some chapters that are not explained until later chapters. What is the point of that? Why not forgo mentioning a topic until it is going to be covered? That way the reader won't constantly feel ill at ease for not knowing what the book is referring to. I am just finishing Chapter 5, and my feeling is that this book is definitely not for beginners. As some of the other reviewers mentioned, at the end of every chapter there are up to 3 pages of cross references listing where the sample code is on the cd AND where it is online. That is just a complete waste of space. Who cares about the sample code? Has anyone ever felt a need to verify that code written in a book actually works? I know I haven't, and if I want to verify it, I can type it in myself, or go to the website and get the sample code. At the most, all the authors need to do is give the web address once at the beginning of the book indicating where to find the sample code. An index at the website can direct you to the specific code you want. The cd itself is a complete waste. All I wanted on the cd were the answers to the exercises, but that is the one thing they don't include. If I have to go to the website to get the answers, then I can get the sample code there too. Finally, from a "tutorial" book, I expect to learn how to program. Answering 4 or 5 simple multiple choice questions at the end of the chapters just does not teach anyone how to program. To learn to program, you have to write programs. To be fair, there are some questions requiring you to write programs, but too few. For instance, the chapter on arrays has no exercises requiring you to write a program. How is that possible in a tutorial book? Every chapter should have at least 4 questions requiring you to write programs. I would suggest that the authors include 12 programming questions at the end of each chapter with 3 groups of 4 questions each: one group with easy questions, one group with medium difficulty questions, and the final group with harder questions. That way the users of the book could select the difficulty level they feel comfortable with. I was going to buy Java2: A Beginner's Guide by Herbert Schildt, and now I wish I had.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT book for beginners!
Review: I read another famous book for beginners, but things did not become CRYSTAL clear until I started reading this book. The examples and analogies to real life examples are great! This book is VERY clear! You may have to read another book for beginners to appreciate this book.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT - especially for beginners in programming
Review: The authors of this book do a truly excellent job in explaining the concepts! I simply could not grasp the concepts the way they were organized and explained in other books I tried. This book takes you through a step-by-step process during which it refers to other sections of the book that expound on key concepts. It is very easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: very basic
Review: This book is too basic, I regret buying it. One step up form the "Idiots" books. I am not sure why the U that I used to go to prescribed it. Sorry, but not every one that worked on java at some level (technical writing is one eg) should be whipping up books on a serious technology like java! I don't see any details that I am looking for - modifiers for inner classes, in-depth info on GC etc. This book is so lame, it just touches upon very basic things and skips anything that a tad bit advanced!
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