The Java Tutorial: Object-Oriented Programming for the Internet (2nd Edition)

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Summary: Reference Yes, Learning or Instruction No
Review: I purchased this book because the customer reviews were fairly positive. But this book is a lot like going on a scavenger hunt. Information is scattered throughout and it is your job to find it. For example, the term "threads" is referred to quite often early on but they don't define this term until midway through the book. I found myself jumping all over the place for either a definition or explanation.

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Summary: This is by far the best Java Book on the market
Review: I thought this book was very well written. The ideas where explained clearly and concisely. The examples where extremely helpful in learning the language. I'm always using this book as a reference!

Rating:
Summary: Not a good Java book
Review: I used this book to try to figure out gridbags. Oh my were they complicated! I spent a day trying to figure it out, but the text and examples simply further confused me. The rest of the book was similar. Instead I picked up Sun's CORE Java Fundamentals - and it showed me just how easy gridbags are to use. It was obvious that this Campione/Walrath book neglected to explain the mere basics!

Rating:
Summary: Too expensive, but very good
Review: I'm new in Java World. I read the on-line tutorial (java_tutorial.zip) from www.javasoft.com, and I find it very simply and good. It would be nice to win on the contest

Rating:
Summary: The worst book I have ever bought
Review: If you're a beginner to Java-programming: DON'T buy this book. This is probably the worst book I have ever read in my entire life. And I meen it. It's a struggle to just look up a specific simple command. The examples are much to complex. To learn to bring up a window (fx) you have to read 7 pages of code, when one or two pages is enough. That would even be OK if the rest of the code was explained - but it isn't. Have a look at the on-line version before bying this book. When I bought this book I was a fairly experienced programmer in Pascal, Basic, Visual Basic and Delphi, so it's not the programming itself that is the problem. I'm only sorry that it's not possible to give 0 stars (1 is the lowest).

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Summary: The One Book.
Review: If your a programmer, either structural or oo, and you wanted to buy one book on Java then your search is over. This is the one. Covers applications and applets in great detail

Rating:
Summary: A Puzzle Book
Review: In my opinion , this book is not for people who are willing to learn Java. I could hardly find what I want. I find myself in a puzzle while searching for a subject. While explaining something , it always refers to other pages and when you open these pages you could hardly return to the place where you've begun. So this book is only for experienced programmers.

Rating:
Summary: A great book for people with experience in OOP, otherwise...
Review: It always amazes me how one person can give a book a "five" and another a "one". The bottom line is that a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to get the full benefit from this book. Specifically, if you have very good knowledge of Object-oriented programming (preferrably C++ knowledge) then this book is for you! Otherwise, you're out of luck. Often, the authors will introduce code and will not explain it 'till many pages later. As someone with knowledge of C++, I found myself often saying, "Yeah, that looks familiar" or "Okay, I know I don't understand it, but I'm sure it'll be explained later." I could usually guess what the unfamiliar terminology was until it was explained. Again, the explanations are very good for C++ers; otherwise you'll be left scratching your head VERY quickly. Don't think that because you know FORTRAN you'll learn Java from this book. The authors go into bit manipulation and referencing objects with the "this" terminology pretty early into the book. They often introduce new code with no real explanation. They never give any examples that let you understand why OOP is so good. However, I found myself understanding just fine. Why? Because I already know C++! Bottom line: If you have good skills in C++ or some other OOP language and need to know Java quickly, this book is for you. If you think that because you know COBOL you're going to pick this book up and be able to learn OOP, FORGETTABOUTIT!!!

Rating:
Summary: A great book for people with experience in OOP, otherwise...
Review: It always amazes me how one person can give a book a "five" and another a "one". The bottom line is that a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to get the full benefit from this book. Specifically, if you have very good knowledge of Object-oriented programming (preferrably C++ knowledge) then this book is for you! Otherwise, you're out of luck. Often, the authors will introduce code and will not explain it 'till many pages later. As someone with knowledge of C++, I found myself often saying, "Yeah, that looks familiar" or "Okay, I know I don't understand it, but I'm sure it'll be explained later." I could usually guess what the unfamiliar terminology was until it was explained. Again, the explanations are very good for C++ers; otherwise you'll be left scratching your head VERY quickly. Don't think that because you know FORTRAN you'll learn Java from this book. The authors go into bit manipulation and referencing objects with the "this" terminology pretty early into the book. They often introduce new code with no real explanation. They never give any examples that let you understand why OOP is so good. However, I found myself understanding just fine. Why? Because I already know C++! Bottom line: If you have good skills in C++ or some other OOP language and need to know Java quickly, this book is for you. If you think that because you know COBOL you're going to pick this book up and be able to learn OOP, FORGETTABOUTIT!!!

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have found on Java.
Review: It has made learning Java a pleasant experience and also it includes all the finest details of the language