Java Examples in a Nutshell: A Tutorial Companion to Java in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly))

This book should not be expected to substitute as a tutorial for people looking to learn the Java language. Instead, it is a book full of short programs that each illustrate specific concepts in the Java language. If you are needing a tutorial on the Java language in general, I suggest "Head First Java", which is also published by O'Reilly and Associates. You can either read the appropriate chapters of this book in parallel with that one, or look through this book after you finish the Head First Java book. If you already know Java, keeping an updated edition of this book around as a reference is a great idea.The first four chapters of this book cover the basics of Java, objects, classes, interfaces, input/output, and threads. Thus these chapters remain largely unchanged from the previous edition. Chapter 5, on networking, has been updated to reflect the changes in the language since the last edition, and contains examples of a simple network client, an HTTP client, and a POP client in addition to the programs of the previous edition. Chapter six is a new chapter on The new I/O (NIO) APIs introduced in version 1.4. These provide new features and improved performance in the areas of buffer management, scalable network and file I/O, character-set support, and regular-expression matching. The NIO APIs supplement the I/O facilities in the java.io package, and this chapter does a good job of demonstrating the APIs in action. The next chapter that has had a major overhaul is the chapter on printing. Printing in JDK1.4 was updated considerably and allows you to list specific printers with specific capabilities, query printer status, spool text or image files directly to a printer, and convert image files to Postscript files. There are examples of all of these upgrades in this chapter. The chapter on data transfer has largely been rewritten to reflect that Swing has added support for data transfer between applications. When adding data transfer support to Swing, the goal was to make it easy for developers using Swing components to add clipboard transfer as well as drag and drop to an application. The examples in this chapter demonstrate these concepts very well. There is a completely new chapter on the Java Sound API reflecting the capabilities of that API. In addition to simply playing sounds and sequences, the chapter demonstrates synthesizing MIDI and also real-time MIDI. Finally, the last part of the book on the Enterprise API's has been completely rewritten to reflect all of the changes that have taken place in those API's since the last edition due to the popularity of the Java language in enterprise applications.Currently, this book is two years old, which is getting a bit long in the tooth for a computer book. This is especially true if you consider the fact that JDK 1.5 has been released since this book was published with its own set of upgrades and nuances, and that JDK 1.6 is scheduled for release in the fall of 2006. I don't know if a fourth edition is planned for the immediate future, so if you can get the 3rd edition used for a low price it might still be worth the investment. If you are a Java novice, it is definitely worth your time and money.

I've purchased several Java books over the years, learning Java part time. Finished some, put others down. I have a basic knowledge of Java. So at this point what I like and need are good examples and I feel this book helped.

Learn by example - this book does a great job. at a decent price.

This book provides much better examples than the ones often found in books that combine basics of the language as well as examples. This book complements Java In A Nutshell nicely.

This is a good book to get started on different type of java development. I recommend it to anyone who is looking to learn java.

No toy code here. This book offers a useful collection of nicely annotated code of genuine utility. Concise, helpful discussion preceeds each example.

This book did not impress me in the least bit. The examples were very immature, although correct, and you won't gain much insight in writing hardcore Java apps. You can find stronger coding examples in any popular Java magazine (JDJ, Java Pro, etc)[later edit]Many have not found my comments helpful so I'll clarify.If you are brand new to the language, probably getting an introduction in an intro class, the examples might be useful, but won't help you with any assignment or real world problem. Better java books have more fluid examples that will go along with what you are learning.This book is not bad, just not worth buying, and below that of the top resources.As I noted in my original review, one of the Java magazines or its website will have great real word snippets and working programs if you want some real meat.

It is great.

Bought for work, good book to learn from