Introduction to Java Programming with Sun One Studio 4

I started with Deitel's 'How to Program Java' book to teach myself Java. This wasn't a bad book, but there were so much text in it that I was confused and not making much progress when I reached the chapter on object-oriented programming. I could'nt see the wood for the trees. Then I bought Bruce Eckel's 'Thinking in Java' and I almost gave up the thought of ever learning Java. I thought you need to have an intellect of an Einstein or Newton to understand stuff like Java, i.e. encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism. While browsing at the local computer bookshop, I chanced upon Prof Liang's book and bought it. Prof Liang knows how to teach Java. Some authors like to use analogies to illustrate a point, but not Prof Liang. He does not beat around the bush; he goes for the meat. There is very little vegetables in his book. He takes a complex concept and explains it in ordinary language. I like the chapter on exception-handling; in a couple of paragraphs he has given the reader a helicopter view of what exception handling is all about. I also like the examples, where judicious comments are put at the appropriate places to help the reader along. The number of lines of code in the examples are about 50 to 130. This is just the right amount.I give this book 5 stars. This is truly a no-nonsense Java book.