Rating: 
Summary: A Beginners must have book
Review: I am thrilled to have found this book! I have been developing software for several years now. My exposure has been mostly in the mainframe environment. I decided to make a switch to PC development as I find most of the latest technologies are taking place here. I'm very comfortable with programming and thought nothing about teaching myself Java. I quickly realized that it is very different from the other languages that I have learned! I do know C and that helped a bit, but the whole concept of object-oriented was unfamiliar territory. I originally read Ivor Horton's Beginning Java 2 book but I still wasn't clear. It wasn't until I read Ms. Barker's book, however, that I really saw how to structure an application around objects. In my opinion, this book should be read before reading Mr. Horton's book. I'm in love with this book, with the author's writing style, the examples and development of the Student Registration System case study application! I really like the part where the author transforms UML class diagrams into actual Java code. Thank you, Ms. Barker, for writing a marvelous book and for making the understanding of objects so simple.
Rating:
Summary: Two Thumbs Way Up
Review: I give this book a solid, very solid, 5 stars. Be forewarned, however, this book requires discipline. Ya gotta wanna study. There are plenty of books, on the market, that will teach you the semantics of java programming. But, what if you are asking yourself, "Why do professional java developers write their code the way they do?" The answer is because they intrinsically know OO methods and techniques. YOU WON'T LEARN THAT FROM A JAVA SEMANTICS BOOK. Ms. Barker's book takes a different tack. She spends 293 pages, of a 665 page book, explaing WHY the pros do what they do. You don't even touch a source code editor before page 293. That's why I say this book takes discipline. However, those who stick with it, will be amply rewarded. Source code for the book is available at http://www.objectstart.com and you can even contact Ms. Barker herself if you've got specific questions. If java represents your first foray into OO technology, do yourself a huge favor and read this book. You, absolutely, will not reqret it.
Rating: 
Summary: I learned a lot
Review: I really got a lot out of this book. I'm an old Basic and C programmer, trying to get my brain around OO and Java. I have several "Bible" type books that attempt to cover it all, but they all seem to have too much detail on components and such and not enough help connecting the dots. I was still baffled by how you approach a java project like the one I was working on. This book put it all together for me, and gave me a good foundation on which I'm currently adding other methodologies and frameworks.
I recently recommended it to a friend and, since the book is 4 years old, I figured I would find used copies fairly cheap (like less than $20). The Amazon price is still up around 60% of the cover, and used copies are only about $5 less than that! In a day when computer books seem to go obsolete in 6 months, I'd say this is one book that holds its value.
There are a lot of reviews that seem to recommend reading other books before this one. I guess it depends on the individual needs of the reader. Whenever you read it, I still recommend it. If you are struggling with just getting your Java program off the dime, this book gives you a good nudge!
If you're already familiar with Java, UML, development methodologies, etc. and are just looking for some new perspective, this book probably won't add much to your knowledge base.
Rating:
Summary: Unlike any other introduction to Java
Review: I've found that many other texts on introductory Java get you started by saying Hello to the World as soon as the first chapter of the book. Barker takes a different approach by giving just a little "Taste of Java" by executing System.out.println("Wheee!!!!") in the introductory chapter. However, from then on very little new Java syntax is seen until Chapter 13, leaving us wondering what happens in the intervening chapters 2-12? As the title suggests, this book is not merely an introduction to Java, but an introduction to objects in Java. These first dozen chapters provide an introduction to object modeling, which every Java programmer, if not every object-oriented software developer, should understand fully. This is where the fundamental concepts of abstraction, classes, object instantiation, method invocations and even inheritance are first introduced, only to be re-introduced as Java-specific syntax later on in the book. Unlike the many other books written on learning to program Java, Jacquie Barker takes the time to make sure the reader understands how to design an entire system in an object-oriented fashion from scratch, by painstakingly taking apart the customer requirements list, specifying use cases, identifying classes and designing both the static hierarchy and the dynamic behavior of all the classes that will be involved. She spends these dozen chapters making sure all that is understood and even drawn out in UML or any similar modeling notation way before the system is to be implemented and actually built. Chronologically this would be what would happen in the real world anyway. There then is no better time to dive into Java syntax and learning the language well than after this extensive object introduction where we are finally ready to program. Obviously the principle of having a sound design reverberates throughout this book. So many times have I attempted to start coding in Java without first using pencil, paper, and my brain. Oh how I wished I had this book at my disposal then. The final part of the book deals with details that make Java useful and unique, such as single inheritance, casting, exceptions, I/O, garbage collection and even Swing, as she introduces these concepts while detailing how to transform the UML model you have just created into actual Java code. The books intended audience seems quite broad, aimed at developers who lack a sound object-oriented design knowledge to students learning both Java and OO for the first time. Personally even with my 4 years of Java experience, this book still did a fine job of finding and filling in gaps in my knowledge of OOD. One thing to note is that this book seemed to me to be best read from cover-to-cover, not so much as a reference guide you would thumb through. Leave David Flanagan's Nutshell series on your desk for that purpose.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding book for OO
Review: In my opinion, this is one of the best book for Object Oriented Concepts and design. Though Java is not given in full, I don't feel that is a negative point for this book.
I already purchased and read the book when I was in India, but left the book there when I came to US. Bought the same book once again and planning to read again. I don't know if any other book has presented OO in such a nice manner.
Thanks,
Balaji.
Rating:
Summary: Good book for begininers
Review: Many books give you the pieces of the puzzle, but Jacquie Barker's Beginning Java Objects shows you the picture on the box. If you want to learn Java, this is the book you should read first.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, comprehensive
Review: Mrs. Barker goes into excellent detail for a 'beginning' book; the explanations are clear and well defined, along with the code. An excellent starter for those who were new to Java, just as myself.
Rating:
Summary: of all the books I bought, this was the best
Review: Preface: I'm a graduate student in Human-Computer Interaction, and just finished 2 semesters of Java programming at a university. When I buy technical books, I'll usually buy a bunch at a time, because the odds are that at least one book will make the other purchases worthwhile. I bought Java XML, Java Servelets, Mathematics for Computer Graphics, Thinking in Java, and Java Objects. The Java Objects book was my lucky lottery ticket this time, and I didn't really have high hopes for the book at first. However, its conceptual presentation of OOP programming finally made the language useful as a problem-solving tool. I wish my professor had required all us beginner Java students to read this book before actually learning how to write code. In fact, I'm applying the object-modelling skills from this book to the Actionscript language in Macromedia Flash.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to object-oriented concepts and Java
Review: Technical and didactical perfect - forget all this costly vendor courses - thanks Jacquie :-)))
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: This book is an excellent choice for being introduced to Java. The analogies the author uses really help the user understand the concept of object oriented programming. You could also apply these analogies to other OO programming languages. In my opinion, all books on programming should be written like this. It would definitely help with the curve of learning other programming languages..
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