Developing Java Software

This book provided a very good introduction for me to Object Oriented programming. Although I had previous knowledge of other programming languages, I never knew anything about Object Oriented programming. The authors give an OO approach to the language, explaining what objects are and why we use them instead of linear programming. Java seemed to me as one of the hardest languages to learn when I was 13, but last year when I got this book (I was 15 then), I was able to master Core Java and basic AWT/Swing in a matter of weeks (3 to be precise). I recommend this book to anyone who hasn't had any luck learning Java well before. Since I DID have programming knowledge before, I'm not in a position to recommend it for starters -- but please give it a try.

First, let me say that I already have some knowledge of C and C++, so I can't comment with certainty on how useful this book would be to someone new to programming, although I suspect it would be great. Having said, that, I must give this book a very enthusiastic recommendation. I've never seen a book which makes it so easy to learn a language on your own! The reasons for this are many: the book is very well organized, with each chapter covering a topic thoroughly and in depth; each example has a "solve the problem" feel to it, with a statement of the problem, the text of the program, and suggestions about testing the program; each chapter ends with really well-chosen exercises followed by harder "challenges" -- much better than the common "Write a program which uses inheritance"-type exercises which are usually found in programming books. The exercises are the highpoint of the book for me. They are actually useful programs that you might want to come back to and reuse, and they are just long enough and demanding enough to make them worth the effort, without taking you weeks to finish (most will take you a few hours).All in all, I wish I had used this as a textbook as soon as I began to learn programming.

I bought this book specifically because it did NOT assume that the reader had already used an object-oriented language, when many other texts assume that you've already dabbled in C++ to some depth.This book explains not only how to program in Java, but elements of OO analysis and design, as well as good programming habits, areas that few other books bother to cover along with the language.The book assumes little or no previous programming knowledge, though of course it helps to have some familiarity with C or C++. It has a dry, straightforward (and occasionally witty) presentation, which is to be expected given its origin as a textbook for undergraduates learning to program. That said, it does not claim to teach Java and OO concepts in a month (any book that does should be binned), and if you have the time and patience to work through its 850-odd pages, you'll be well rewarded.

DJS is written in a clear and concise prose with excellent attention to detail, without cluttering the issue. The book explains many of tha basic programming fundamentals required to create robust and correct code with the Java language. Many books which I have seen up to now covering the Java language are too envolved with scraping the surface of everyting. This book does the opposite, it doesn't try to tell you everything there is to know about Java, but what it does tell you is how to use the language and the important libraries effectively. There is also a heavy influence of the use of algorithms (searching sorting etc) and data structures (binary trees, lists etc) which are the building blocks of effective programming. I used this book at Kings College Lonodon and found it extremely informative. Clearly the other student who didn't like it was not up the course or just couldn't be bothered.

I checked this book out of the library (imagine that!) I found it to be pretty comprehensive and offered a lot of tips. It has a school textbook style but has a lot of meat. What I found interesting is thier mention of patterns and also UML, JavaBeans, etc.