Schaum's Outlines of Programming with Java

I used Schaum's Outlines Series during college and was always impressed. This one was also impressing! I have also repeatedly noticed that Java can be difficult to learn. This is because it is really Object-Oriented and I always found it difficult to have the JDK and everything else together for a student that was getting the first exposure to Java to obtain practical experience to build confidence. Bruce Razban, President/Founder, Razban Internet International, Silicon Valley, CA, USA In the fourteen chapters, this book does an good job of helping students get a grasp of Java, compare their answers to correct answers and learn from their mistakes instantly. The typical problem for others that do not have this book is that they get stuck and then, they have to find the correct answer by trial and error. I would however, recommend a more robust coverage of the Object-Oriented example. I found this book as a very good way to teach and learn, and it is reasonably priced. Bruce Razban, President/Founder, Razban Internet International Silicon Valley, CA, USA

Earlier I had purchased Hubbard's C++ and had no complaints.But this book by the same author leaves much to be desired. The explanations are well written, ...typically Hubbard style, but I was very dissapointed by the way the examples and the chapters were organised in the book. A newcomer who is learning example by example and from chapter to chapter is bound to get confused. In an earlier chapter, an example uses try and catch block to take an input from the user, but the mechanism of try and catch blocks are explained much later in the book. So this book is basically for those who are already conversant with Java and just needs a good brushing-up. If you are new to Java, use this book as a supplement rather than your main text. The examples in the book are excellent and fun to try out.

As another reviewer has pointed out, there's a lot of help in setting up the jdk, but be aware that the information is given only for Windows. The basics of the language are covered well, but you should have your textbook handy. There are a few mistakes (not mistakes really, but the author didnot want to bring in all the complexities). As a college text, I was looking for some more math based examples, but there aren't too many. The ones he does give don't use adequate formatting of the results. For example, the results for a particular problem (getting the values of sin(x)) are given to 16 decimal places or so. But the exercises themselves are great for practising, which will surely come in useful.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that it is designed for students. It concentrates on the basics of the language -- flow control, variables, etc. It has great exercises. But it doesn't really focus on GUI design. I found it invaluable for prepping for the Cert exam however.And, it is very cheap.