Murach's Beginning Java 2 [With CDROM]

As a mainframe software engineer with over twenty years in the business, I have for several years now seen the need and have endeavored to learn some Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) language such as C++ or Java. Until recently, though, all I have had to show for my efforts is a stack of highly-rated but little-read books on the subject. The reason they are little-read is I would get about 4 chapters in to the book, only to get utterly lost and give up, and toss the C++ or Java book onto a stack of similar books in the corner of my home office, fighting the despair that I would ever learn any of this stuff. Eventually, I got hold of Beginning Java2 (JDK 5) by Lowe, Murach, and Steelman; published by Murach and Associates. As a result of working through this book, I am glad to report that I am finally successfully writing programs using weird and bizarre (to us mainframers) things such as Classes, Objects, Constructors, Methods, Inheritance, and Polymorphism; and I am actually understanding what is going on. Even more shocking, it is fun! I think the problem with all those other books was that they assumed the reader either knew something about Object Oriented programming, or knew nothing about any kind of programming. However, I think for some of us, when approaching OOP, knowing mainframe programming is worse than knowing nothing. This Java book clearly explains things in ways that we mainframe people can easily latch onto. If you want to finally, successfully make the jump from legacy work to Object Oriented, this is your book.

You want to learn the basics of the JAVA programming language and the object-oriented approach to programming (OOP)? This is the best book for you. You teach the JAVA programming language, and you expect your students to have a good grasp of the assigned material BEFORE they come to class? This is the best text for your students. The authors of the JDK 5 edition of Beginning JAVA 2 have taken the previous version of the book and brought it up to date. Once again we have them to thank for a well written, well organized, accurate introduction to JAVA and OOP.

This book is well written, well organized, and includes real-world business examples which other java books tend to lack. The double page layout is extremely helpful when the book is used a reference later on. (Explanation on one page, example code on the other.) I really liked the fact that they include JDBC and other database connectivity examples. This is rare in most beginning books, but is essential to building serious business applications. After going through the exercises I finally feel comfortable with Java sytnax and Object Oriented programming. Andrea Steelman and Mike Murach have done an outstanding job with this book.

This book has taught me more in the first 175 pages than the first 500 pages of most other Java books!! This is the only book I have seen which spends its entire first chapter providing step by step instructions for setting up a Java environment so that you can get started learning Java immediately. Topics that frustrate beginners and novices alike, including setting path variables, package creation, and using Sun's JAR utilities, are explained in such a way so that you spend your time developing your business applications and not being bogged down by minutiae. The exercises are well thought out and present real examples of how to not only approach the development of Java applications, but also how to go about maintaining existing code - as a Java professional would. The Murach approach to writing textbooks really pays off when applied to learning Java. Detailed, but concise paragraphs are featured on the left hand page, while bulleted items and useful screen captures populate the right hand page, including the step by step instructions and examples that will save you hours of head scratching and frantic page turning.This is a fantastic book by Andrea Steelman, and another home run for Murach and Associates!

Finally there is a Java book for serious programmers doing real life business applications. Although the first five chapters must be read sequentially to ground the student in Java syntax and to understand the conceptual base of OOP - subsequent chapters may be taken out of order with little or no loss in the conceptual continuity. The examples and the projects are about real business implementations and not about toys, shapes or animals barking. The code examples work - and the explanations are direct, easy to read and lead the reader to total comprehension. This book is not only for anyone who wants to learn how to program in Java (including those with no previous programming experience) - but for the seasoned Java programmer as well. It was the first time topics such as Date, Array, Vector and the file IO classes were covered to expose the depth and power underlying them.After using several books that boast of "being the best" to learn Java 2, I have concluded this latest publication really is the best book on the market. When used in a classroom the material is seamless and the exercises work toward reinforcement. The book can also stand alone for the independent learner or the Java programmer who wants a deeper understanding. Don't be fooled by the title "beginning java 2" - this book is 700 (8x10) pages and it covers advanced topics such as Swing Layout Managers, JDBC and threads.