Who's Afraid of Java? (Who's Afraid of Series)

Rating:
Summary: Believe it --- this is a great book for a complete novice!
Review:

I was recently browsing through the computer book racks of a local bookstore looking for a beginner's guide to Java. Most of the books I saw claimed that they were great for beginners, but I quickly became discouraged when I actually thumbed through the books' Table of Contents and first few pages --- the authors didn't seem to realize that beginner really means BEGINNER. Someone who knows little or nothing about Java, and, perhaps, programming languages in general. To make matters worse, some of the books were dry and boring --- your typical idea of a computer text book.

Right as I was about to give up and leave, another book on the rack caught my eye --- "Who's Afraid of Java?". "What a great title," I thought to myself. I sat down on the floor and started my usual evaluation of the TOC, author's comments, and first chapter.

I LOVED IT! I liked everything about the book --- the progression of topics, the writing style, and the unique use of a novice reader's comments and point of view throughout the book. All together, these elements in the book made Java seem completely manageable....and, dare I say....fun!! I liked it so much that I read the first 100 pages that night before bed!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn Java --- or anyone who just wants to understand what a programming language is all about. The book is easy to understand without being condescending or boring, but, at the same time, it also explains the technical stuff so you don't feel like important information is being glossed over just because you're a beginner.

Even if you know something about programming already, you'll probably enjoy the way Steve Heller pulls all the bits and pieces you may know together to form a complete picture for you.

Bravo, Steve! -emily

Rating:
Summary: Fairly good introduction to fundamental OOP concepts in Java
Review: Although I've gotten 2/3 of the way through a couple of introductory books about C as well as TEACH YOURSELF JAVA 1.1 IN 21 DAYS, I still consider myself very much a beginning programmer. I picked up WHO'S AFRAID OF JAVA? in hopes of gaining a fuller understanding of the fundamentals of programming in general and object-oriented programming in particular. In some key ways, I was successful.

Unlike TYJ, which explains the specifics of the Java language and environment in greater detail without offering much information as to *why* Java is object-oriented or what that means with respect to program design, WAOJ is careful to define and illustrate basic OO principles such as encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism. I can honestly say that the description of a class as a "user-defined type" was an epiphany for me in my quest to comprehend the essence of OO design philosophy; that alone made reading the book worthwhile. Other information describing how a program actually interacts with computer hardware was also informative, if a tad sketchy.

I must confess, however, that I felt that WAOJ left out as many useful concepts as it included -- things that I've encountered in other "beginner" books that I consider fundamental to getting a grasp of Java. For instance, I think the term "Java" needs to be clearly defined. Since the word itself can be said to be "polymorphic" in a way, it helps greatly to know what people mean when they use it. Is Java a language or an operating environment? What does it have to do with the Internet? What's so special about Java? Why is it popular? Such a discussion might have been included in a more effective appendix than the one offered which compares Java to other languages (most notably C++). Instead of openly evaluating Java's strengths and weaknesses, however, the author seems to prefer to denigrate the language through snide comments geared toward fans of C++. This I found annoying.

I also found the questions asked by "Susan," a friend of the author's whose viewpoint ostensibly represents the novice reader, to be problematic. For one thing, her questions frequently were not *my* questions; I was confused enough times that I think the book could've used a bit more feedback from newbies before going to press. Also, many of Susan's notes to the author read like an editor's comments; I'd rather just see the suggested changes manifest in the text.

Despite my reservations (and a pet peeve regarding included CDs whose system requirements are listed simply as "PC compatible" -- and in this case promote the "100% Pure Java"-incompatible Visual J++), if you're looking for a book to help you understand basic concepts of OOP and how they relate to Java, WHO'S AFRAID OF JAVA is not a bad start. But I'm still looking for that perfect introductory text that no one seems able to write. And if all you want to know is how to create some modest applets for your webpage, I'd look elsewhere. This book takes a more serious approach to programming than you're likely to want or need.

Rating:
Summary: Nice concept but pales in comparison to other Java books.
Review: I bought this book because I was adviced from the school that it would be wise to learn something about java before the school started - because about 50% of the students didn't make it through the first 2 semesters - and mainly because of programming (java and c++).

At school start they throwed classes, objects and inheretence at us without even introducing us to the fundamentals of java.

I full heartly recommend this book to anyone new to programming, and to anyone that have tried to learn it, but felt insecure about it.

Here you don't have to read, or guess, what's behind the lines of the pages. Steve Heller explains what's going on behind, and he does it in a way that makes it easy to understand.

Some authors seems to be experts in making even the easiest thing difficult to understand. Not Steve Heller. He really has the gift of explaining things in a way that they are easy to understand. - Though it only teaches about 10% of the java language - it is the important 10%, and it establish a good foundation for further studies of the java language. I highly recommend this book. Now we only need more advanced java from Steve Heller.

Rating:
Summary: Systematic, Excellent Introduction to Java
Review: I had never programmed in my life and hardly understood computer terminology beyond what a "byte" was. Out of curiousity, I recently dabbled into programming and chose java for a start. Among the few books I bought was "Teach yourself Java in 21 days" (TYJ), and "Who's afraid of Java". I spent two months painfully grinding through TYJ. For a complete novice, I felt my brain almost cracking in half! Maybe I'm just a little slow but I needed a book that would hold me by the hand and systematically guide me through the mysteries of not just the java language, but some fundamentals of how the computer in general works. Steve Heller's "Who's Afraid of Java" did just that! More importantly, from chapter to chapter, he uses a real life application of programming as its examples. He continuously builds on the same programming problem, increasing the functionality of the written program as more terms are introduced and explained. This is a markedly different approach from most programming books which give completely different examples when a new term is introduced, sometimes making it hard to properly grasp the subject without a few sleepless nights! To cap it all, the book takes a conversational approach with a novice. This book is a MUST to the beginner (and to the intermediate programmer who may wish to brush up on some fundamental facts). "Teach yourself java in 21 days" became so much easier to read after reading this book. Thanks, Steve Heller!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for anyone who wants to learn Java !
Review: I have read many technical manuals, and programming books over the years, and was not really looking forward to getting into Java. However, my wife picked up Steve's book for me, and it has made me rethink my position. Unlike other books I have read, this one pulled me in, and educated me at the same time. His back and forth with Susan seemed distracting at first, since she seemed to ask questions I already knew the answers to. But that changed quickly. Soon, I was relying on her to stop Steve, and make him explain a concept that wasn't clear enough to me. Who's Afraid of JAVA may not explain all of the esoteric feature in the JAVA language, but it is very good at what it does teach. If you take the time to really get into what he is saying, and not get hung up about which version of JAVA is real, you will learn enough to be solidly grounded.

Rating:
Summary: Who's afraid of programming
Review: That's what this book should be entittled. Java is a kind of alibi. Thougth this book is written at the beginner level I've red it with a great pleasure. To be clear I'm professional (non-Jav) programmer with over 20-years expirience in programming and teaching of programming. I've never met such a good book. Recommended for all from 0 to 100 years and over. Most important this book shows is the way a programmer thinks during his/her work. You rarely can find it in any other book. Very innovative is dialog with Susan - "professional novice". Keep this way Steve. Susan is wonderful co-author of this book. (What will you do, Steve, when she became no-novice ?). Working hard to follow Steve's text she stops at any non-clear moment and asks accurate questions (or even QUESTIONS). Al this make this book excellent.
I expect next such a books by Susan and Steve.

Rating:
Summary: Very nice intro.
Review: Unlike the previous reviewer, I thought "Who's Afraid of Java?" was superb. Yes, it is quite similar in format to Mr.Heller's other works, but that's just fine by me. Other supposed "beginner" Java books assume that you started with C++ or Perl or somesuch, or they try to teach you Javascript. Mr.Heller's book makes no such assumptions, and teaches the material from the very ground up. Sure, it's not the most in-depth introduction out there, but that's not the point: the in-depth books tend to leave the beginner in the dust. For the -real- beginner, I suggest this book; it even had a few tricks to teach more experienced programmers to whom I've recommended it.

Rating:
Summary: Systematic, Excellent Introduction to Java
Review: Unlike the previous reviewer, I thought "Who's Afraid of Java?" was superb. Yes, it is quite similar in format to Mr.Heller's other works, but that's just fine by me. Other supposed "beginner" Java books assume that you started with C++ or Perl or somesuch, or they try to teach you Javascript. Mr.Heller's book makes no such assumptions, and teaches the material from the very ground up. Sure, it's not the most in-depth introduction out there, but that's not the point: the in-depth books tend to leave the beginner in the dust. For the -real- beginner, I suggest this book; it even had a few tricks to teach more experienced programmers to whom I've recommended it.