Java Foundation Classes [With Contains Source Code & Full Code Examples]

The book is one of the few that offers something both for a seasoned programmer as well as the inexperienced. The detailed description of the individual classes in JFC is organised in a neat alphabetical order making it an excellent reference. And for the beginner sample cod is given for each class from the ground-up. I would recommend this book as a must buy both for the beginner and the mid level programmer.

I find that with Nelson's JFC book I'm not stuck reading yards of mundane and overdone "how to code in oop", etc.. chapters. It gets right to the point, provides examples for every conceivable problem regarding all the JFC components! Without this book, you'll find the JFC a frightening beast , but with it -- its a snap :)!

While this book may be difficult for beginners, I found the combination of class oriented step-by-step instructions and detailed examples to be just right. I didn't see any signs of discrepancies between the text and source code.The extra-long reference chapter could have been organized better with page headers or something, but that is a minor complaint.

Pros: The book starts simple and assumes a working knowledge of basic java. Then it talks about the most important classes and the related classes, which was very helpful in the learning process. Chapter 8 goes through each of the classes with good examples. I like that for each class there is a "Steps in Creating and Using ..." section to get you jump started. It also lists all the methods for the class and gives a short description of what each method does. The last 4 chapters of the book implement the classes in larger applications to give an understanding of how the classes can interact. Very helpful.This book is a great How-to book and a good reference with all the source on the CD.Cons: Chapter 8 should be broken up or the pages ought to be indexed somehow to find a specific class quicker. Chapter 7 should cover all of the classes to match Chapter 8. Could probably leave out Chapter 9, Future technologies, or expand on it for more useful information. The last 4 chapters could probably go on the CD because they are mainly source code.

I have read prerelease versions of this book and find it very good. This book was written by a programmer for programmers. The text is written in a logical, straight forward style and the examples are very good! The examples are actually usefull programs and not just 5 liners. This book will not only teach you the beginning stuff about JFC(SWING), but it will teach you many advanced concepts too. This book will always be on my bookshelf! Everyone learning JFC will save themselves much time and effort if they buy this book.