Just Java 2

by Peter van der Linden

Book Overview

The #1 introduction to J2SE 1.5 and enterprise/server-side development! An international bestseller for eight years, Just Java(tm) 2 is the complete, accessible Java tutorial for working programmers... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131482114
• ISBN13: 9780131482111
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 848 Pages
• Weight: 2.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.9" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Solid introductory walkthrough

This is a tour guide through the main Java APIs. It starts with a language walkthrough then goes on through the basics of objects and onto the APIs. Sections like XML, JDBC and others are covered at a fairly high level. The basics are covered by using example problem solutions. There isn't much for reference, but you wouldn't expect it from this book. The coverage of the new features in the language, especially generics, is well integrated. I suppose the time of the dedicated Java 1.5 features book is over and now the new versions of the Java introductory books will include all of these new features. A solid all-in-one walkthrough of the Java language and the basic APIs. Though myself I would buy two books. One on the Java language only, and another on the foundation classes.

Excellent, once again

Although I acquired many Java books when I was first learning the language, Just Java and Sun's Java web-pages have become the only two resources I use on a daily basis. I expect that this new edition will quickly become as thumbed as my previous edition.PvdL's biggest strength as a technical author is his background as a long-time programmer. He understands what an experienced programmer will look for in a general language reference book, and seeks to provide the information in a concise and witty form. As an example of the clarity of the writing, I should note his explanation of autoboxing and Unboxing (new in Java2 1.5). This is already part of the .Net languages, but while the various .Net books I've read take long sections to try and explain the concept, Just Java 6 managed to explain it in little more than 1 page *and finally help me understand it fully*!While this book certainly isn't for people who have never programmed before, it's a great resource for anyone who's coming to Java from another language. It's also not an in-depth treatment of every possible Java library - if you want a book that tells you about everything Swing does, for example, you should look elsewhere. What it does instead is to explain the basics of the libraries, give you a good grounding in their use, and then point you towards sources of other information should you need them.An excellent update of an essential book.

Great For Intermediate Level But Not For Beginners

OK, for starters I am not a professional programmer. I do know the rudiments of a few programming languages (VB, C++, Java, Tcl, Linux Shell Script, JavaScript, etc.) and enjoy writing automated test scripts at work. I also like the process of learning new languages and writing short programs with them in my spare time."Just Java 2" is a great read and one of my favorite programming books (and I have stacks of them, some good, some bad, many so-so).However, if you are completely new to programming "Just Java 2" is (probably) not the book for you. Instead, get a beginner level book (or two) on learning Java and programming basics and work your way through them.Then, when you know the basics, sit down with "Just Java 2" in a bookstore and re-read Peter Van Der Linden's explanations of a few of the subjects that your beginner-level Java programming books tried to teach you ...especially subjects that you "kind of know" but wish you understood better. Chances are that this book's short yet lucid explanations will periodically set off little light bulbs of sudden understanding over your head and bring new clarity to your grasp of the Java language. It did for me. I think this is a great intermediate level Java text and a clearly understandable introduction to more advanced subjects like the JDBC, Servlets and Java Beans. As for other Java books, we all have our own learning styles and likes/dislikes but here's some of what I've found in my quest to teach myself Java. 1) I have personally found many of the O'Reilly books (on a range of subjects, not only Java) to be unsatisfyingly terse. 2) Ivor Horton's "Beginning Java 2" provides a lot of detail but in a long-winded, scattershot, myopic, stream-of-consciousness style that make it difficult to separate key kernels of knowledge from what amounts to background noise. In other words, the cloudy writing, apparent lack of coherent editing and poor formatting (e.g many unlabelled tables) tended to confuse me as much as educate me and turned attempts to later go back and locate and quickly reread key topics into long "Where's Waldo"-like wadings through "deep text". 3) Dietel & Dietel's "Java: How To Program" at the outset offers the Java novice clear and explicit line by line explanations of sample Java programs. However, about half way through the book that style really bogs way down in wordy detail and becomes tiresome as topics become more advanced. Still, it's not a bad book for an absolute beginner. Anyway, that's my two cents.

Great book with breadth, but not for complete newbies

This is the third edition of Just Java that I've bought (this review is on the 5th ed), and I've found that the author has always been able to introduce new topics to me in a clear and humourous manner. This book isn't for complete newbies though; it seems targeted for those who already have programming experience and just want to get into Java. Myself, I had already had a university education in comp sci (with C and C++) when I picked up his 2nd edition in 1997 and started learning Java. Since then, these books have taught me basic Java semantics, RMI, AWT, applets, I/O, etc. The best characteristic of this book is that it provides fantastic introductions to a wide range of topics; that is, it has great breadth but is otherwise lacking in depth on each topic. That's fine for me, and probably for most experienced programmers, because typically when learning a new topic, I just want a quick start (including what packages to use, how to get it working, and seeing initial results), and if I need a deeper understanding, I'll look online or buy a more focused book. This is how I've learned almost all my Java. Indeed, I recently bought the 5th edition to start learning about server-side technologies like JSP, servlets, and JDBC. It hasn't disappointed me.One chapter I found outstanding is the one on I/O. The number of Java I/O classes is huge as all Java programmers know because the I/O library sacrifices ease-of-use for extreme generality. The author's explanation of when to use which classes is incredibly clear and is perhaps the best of any Java book I've read at giving you the big picture of the I/O library.I really like this author's writing. His explanations are crystal clear. Example: his step-by-step explanation for setting up the Tomcat JSP/Servlet server was excellent (although some key points have been changed by the Tomcat folks since this book was published). This level of clarity probably comes from the fact that the author is a programmer himself, whereas most of the other intro Java books out there (especially those in the Core... series) are written by university professors or professional lecturers who try to keep everything extremely general. Such generality is not always helpful. In earlier books, the author seemed to intermingle his dry humour throughout the book, but thankfully he seems to have placed such humour only in isolated areas, such as the anecdotes at the end of each chapter.