The Java Handbook

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding introduction to programming in Java
Review: Although a little weak on AWT, this is still the bestintroduction to Java I've found and the only Java book I've bothered to read cover to cover. It's fun to read, includes plenty of usable examples (including some killer graphic applets at the end of the book), and has an firsthand account of the origins of Java that was as interesting to read as "Soul of a New Machine" (I'm dating myself).

Rating:
Summary: Too much flack plus imprecise language
Review: I found the book a fine read, and a good guide for experimentation. I learn by doing, and this book certainly provides good motivation and examples. The writing is clear and economical, with wit and literary value. I've read it twice so far, just for fun. Naughton's introduction of the Futurist applets in the end is inspiring.

Rating:
Summary: Short'n'Sweet - but not for the beginner..
Review: The book, although it says its for everyone, is not for a beginner and a newbie to programming. You will need to have programmed in C, C++, or Pascal to grasp the concepts of program logic and control, bitwise operations, memory allocation, etc, etc. That said, and noting that the '9' I am giving it is from someone who has programmed before, "The Java Handbook" is an excellent reference to the most important classes and the chapters follow each other logically, not jumping in at the deep end. The 'Hello World!' example of an applet was just so right to have in the beginning. Buy this book, but beware of skipping chapters to learn faster - it won't happen.

Rating:
Summary: A okay broad overview, but not enough depth to stand alone
Review: The Java Handbook isn't a bad book, if what you're lookingfor is a generic overview of Java and your goal is simplyto get a feel for what the language provides and the kinds of things you might do with it. It's a reasonably easy read, fairly entertaining at times, and the history of how Java came into being is enlightening.

But the book isn't deep enough in most areas to actually let you start writing any but the most trivial Java applets or applications after reading it. For that reason, I'm not convinced this book is worth the price.

Rating:
Summary: good info on basic java, but poor examples
Review: This book explains the language and the concepts well, without the usual flab that one finds in computer texts. I am still waiting for P. Naughton to write an updated edition to cover java 1.1 - java 2.0. I now have several books on Java - some more recent but none as easy to read or understand. What was the best Java book is loosing "stars" as time goes on but is stil an easy, informative and entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: good info on basic java, but poor examples
Review: This was my second java book. I first read through several chapters of Barry Holmes' Programming In Java, which spends so much time on basic string and array operations that it never really gets around to talking about Java. Naughton, on the other hand, gives you lots of Java. It's JDK 1.0, but most of it is still very good. In a few pages, he makes class access modifiers clearer than a hundred pages of Sun's Java Tutorial, for example. However, many of his examples are very difficult to follow because of an over-emphasis on bitwise operations. Unfortunately, his own lessons on bitwise operations are crammed into only a few pages. He should have spent much more time on them if he intended any novice programmer to really understand those examples. Likewise, the networking chapter is mainly taken up by example code for a web server... but he never actually explains what the functionality of the code is supposed to be! The reader is expected to know all about web servers already, I guess. But that is not a reasonable assumption for a book which claims to be "for every level of programmer".