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Java in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition
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by David Flanagan
Sales Rank: 99400
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List Price: $39.95
$26.37
At Amazon
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Paperback: 992 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly; 4th edition March 2002
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0596002831
ISBN-13: 978-0596002831
Product Dimensions:
9 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
Product Description
Java just keeps growing, adding features, functionality, complexity, and tempting developers to growl with frustration. The new 1.4 release of Java 2 Standard edition increases the size of the platform by 50%, to 2757 classes in 135 packages. How are you going to figure out what this means for your applications? As always, Java in a Nutshell has the answers. The new 4th edition still contains an accelerated introduction to the Java programming language and its key APIs so you can start writing code right away. And with more than 250 new pages, author David Flanagan quickly brings you up to speed on new features that come with version 1.4:- High-performance NIO API
- Support for pattern matching with regular expressions
- A logging API
- A user preferences API
- New Collections classes
- An XML-based persistence mechanism for Java Beans
- Support for XML parsing using both the DOM and SAX APIs
- User authentication with the JAAS API
- Support for secure network connections using the SSL protocol
- Support for cryptography
The book contains O'Reilly's classic quick-reference for all the classes in the essential Java packages, so you can dive in and find what you need to make the new 1.4 version work for you. For as long as Java developers have existed, Java in a Nutshell has been ready, willing and able to take you right to the heart of the program, turning those frustrated grrrrss into purrrss of satisfaction. No wonder readers of Java Developer's Journal voted this the "Best Java Book" the past two years in a row!
Book Info
Still contains an accelerated introduction to the Java programming language and its key APIs so you can start writing code right away. Covers Java 1.4. Softcover.
Customer Reviews & Comments
Nothing makes the importance of understanding exactly what you are looking for as obvious as the travail of picking the right technical book from the usual host on a particular subject. And no subject seems to underscore this more than that of the Java language. I can limp along adequately in Java, after several corporate efforts to get it drilled into my skull, but I'm past the age where perfect recall is anything else but wishful thinking. And Java, which is more an architecture than it is a language, puts high demand on knowledge retention abilities. Thus, I recently found myself searching for a language/object/method reference that is useful when reading and writing code, but does not require two briefcases to carry around. In those circumstances anything that says 'nutshell' is going to get my attention. Since I wasn't looking for long, flowing dissertations on syntax or object use, this book seemed exactly what I wanted. And it is, for the most part. There are about 300 pages of tiny print on Java, its syntax, environment, and tools. Then comes 600 pages of reference on objects and methods, organized (somewhat) by package. In general, if you can find it, and you already have a clue of why you should look for it, the book does just what I wanted. The flaw, however, is in the finding. Indexing and organization is best described as adequate. But browsing is a literal impossibility. Under no circumstances should you buy this book if you are looking for a learning tool. It is at its best when you need to be reminded about something, not when you are looking for a way to actually do something. I didn't expect to find anything on J2EE in the book, and sure enough, there isn't. But I found the lack of information on the AWT and Swing irritating. I admit that it says right on the back cover (in tiny print) that I need 'Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell' if those are also of interest. Of course they are if you are writing an application that needs more than a command line interface. Left up to me I would have sacrificed some of the more obscure information for 50 or so pages on the AWT. Or even put up with a book with 100 extra pages. As it is I still need ten pounds of paperbacks to feel like I have sufficient reference material. Still, the book of professionally done, brooks no nonsense, and does precisely what it says it does. Which is a small miracle in today's technology business. I certain bear a certain amount of responsibility for not getting something that is precisely what I wanted, but I use this every day, and generally, I get exactly what I need.
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Java in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition
List Price: $39.95
Available from Amazon
Price: $26.37
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