Beginning Java 2 SDK 1.4 Edition

As far as introductory books on programming languages go, I would have to say this book is at the top of my list. It is a good book for people who are new to programming, but packs enough meat at 1100+ pages for people like me who have programmed in other languages and are looking to pick up Java. Horton does a wonderful job explaining basic principles of object oriented design and the right way to document code. This does was it is meant to do, if you have used previous versions of Java, I would recommend picking up Oreilly's Java 1.4 in a Nutshell.

I am teaching a co-worker's daughter to program in Java and this book is exactly what we needed. She was programming-phobic and Ivor's teaching style calmed her down by explaining things very well.At 1162 pages, it is a big book. That might tend to frighten some beginners, until they realize that the reason why it is so big is because things are explained very well. If there is anything overlooked, we haven't found it yet.For more experienced Java folks, there are the later chapters. He covers things like Java and XML. I learned a few things by just browsing around in the book.The primary, target audience is the beginner. I think they would be very happy that they bought this book.

I started reading several Java beginner's guide type books but this one is the best. The depth and breadth Mr. Horton has crafted into his book allowed me to grasp, with admittedly some effort, Java object oriented programming concepts.This book presents a clear path, by using both words and good sample programming techniques, to learn how to be a productive Java programmer.To have a solid grasp of the tools Java makes available to the programmer, I recommend reading this book first then read a more concise book "A Programmer's Guide to Java Certification" by Mughal and Rasmussen.

as a cs majored student i have read quite a few java tutorial, this one is the best i've found. the author assumes no previous programming experiens, everything step by step; he not only teaches what java is and HOW TO USE IT, but also teaches you good programming style from very beginning. It shows a great consideration to the simplicity as well as performance of your java codes, and explains why you should do this way in a scientific yet very clear and easy to understand manner. i simply love the author's writing style. the book is well structured, mastering an OOP language such as java is never really a piece of cake for most people, but this book does its best to minimize your pain all along the road. you can be sure you are getting knowledge, confidence, skill and fun with this book. and, all the examples given in the book are just complete applications or applets. they are just ready for you to try them out. Our professor put deitel and deitel's " java: how to program " in his literature list, but after using it for a while, i no longer thought it a good idea for a beginner. the examples given in this book seem not to reveal how to program and what is oop but rather to conceal them, besides, it's really not a fancy idea to begin with swing . but in this Ivor's book, he starts with plain console application, so you can concentrate on what you should concentrate as a beginner. then i also tried " thinking in java", i have to admit it is a nice book, but too conceptual, and most codes in this book are not complete, you might have to bother to add some code if you want to try them out. if you were still not familiar with I/O control, it could be a problem for you. and, the knowledge such as memory allocation...etc are not merged in the java teaching as well as Ivor's book. there are also other java books i have read, but i cannot even recall them. and seems i dont need more with this Ivor's great work on java learning. of course one would need other tutorial when go further into some specific field, however, i venture to say this is the best book for a greenhorn so far.

Ivor Horton has once again produced an exceptional beginner's book for Java. I have reviewed many beginner books on Java in the search for a textbook for an "Introduction to Java" class that I teach at Hofstra University. Few of these books have met the goal of providing a solid base of knowledge upon which a programmer can build. Ivor Horton's "Beginning Java" is one of those few. This book is an excellent introduction to Java for anyone who has a basic understanding of programming and is willing to apply some effort to learn the language. Horton proceeds at a rapid pace to cover virtually every important topic in Java outside of the Enterprise Edition. Starting with the basics of the Java language Horton explains the Java syntax in great detail. He then goes on to cover exceptions, streams, utility classes, threads, GUI (with a concentration on Swing), and file processing. In addition, Horton covers all the important new features of the 1.4 release including more than 100 pages on XML. Each chapter builds upon the previous chapter using extensive, well designed and clearly explained examples. Although the book covers a wide range of topics, it does not treat any of them lightly. Many introductory books fall short in the very important topic of object oriented technique. Horton does an excellent job of both explaining OO and then using it in his many examples. Unlike other books that you may read and discard, this is a book that will continue to provide help far into your Java career.