Java Book Recommendation

[Justin Cooke]

Hi All, I'm back in school to finally finish my BS in Computer Science and need to get up to speed on Java. I've been working as a C/C++ / MFC programmer for 4 years and haven't ever used Java. Do any of you have book recommendations? I've been reading Eckel's downloaded "Thinking in Java" and a hard copy of "Java in a NutShell". Eckel's book is a great read, but not much of a reference. The NutShell book is a very DRY reference. I'm looking for something in between. What do you guys think of the Deitel book? It's awfully expensive, but I used the C++ version and thought it was pretty good. I ususally turn to that, rather than Stroustrup's book, as a reference. Thanks, Justin

[Yulianto]

Justin Cooke wrote: What do you guys think of the Deitel book? It`s good. Justin Cooke wrote: It's awfully expensive Yes,but I didn`t have any cent for the book. I just borrowed it from the library.:laugh: Justin Cooke wrote: thought it was pretty good I think Deitel`s C++ and Java have the same quality. So if you thinks Deitel`s C++ is good, that you certainly should read the Java version.

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Work hard and a bit of luck is the key to success.

You don`t need to be genius, to be rich.

[Aamir Butt]

Justin Cooke wrote: What do you guys think of the Deitel book? I found it good simply for the reason that it covers or at least passes through almost all of the starter level topics from primitives to Servlets. Remember, its not a book for beginners and I am sure you are not a beginner being in the trade for 4 years. So, its a good bet. Go for it. BTW, I am programming in C++ for the last 2 years, so I dont remember anything about Java anymore:^) I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me saying "You're next". They stopped that when I started doing it to them at funerals. My Articles

[Ryan Binns]

Aamir Butt wrote: I am programming in C++ for the last 2 years, so I dont remember anything about Java anymor Lucky you. I can still remember it after 4 years. Man, that's annoying! I wish I had the capability to instantly erase things from my memory; my knowledge of Java would be the first to go.

Ryan

"Punctuality is only a virtue for those who aren't smart enough to think of good excuses for being late" John Nichol "Point Of Impact"

[V 0]

I learned Java from the Deitel (J2EE 1.2) book and if I have to look up (basic) things, I still use it. Java is very similar to C# in syntax and other. So if it's the framework you want to know, you can still look up in the javadocs on the java.sun webpage (somewhere) Personally I found those docs easier to use then MSDN. good luck. "If I don't see you in this world, I'll see you in the next one... and don't be late." ~ Jimi Hendrix

[Justin Cooke]

Thanks for the opinions, everyone. I'm going to get Deitel Java today. I am a bit disappointed that most computer science departments are using Java now. A good learning language, I guess, but not much of a performer. It always seems SO slow! :omg: At least it's another skill on the resume. Thanks, Justin

[jan larsen]

Man, I sure would like to see how you guys code. I've been programming Java for years, and I've never considered it slow. Because of the odd moments where the GC blocks the execution, there are certain apps that wouldn't exactly benefit from being written in Java. But simple applications like most of us do, are really not that performance heavy. I've, almost, never been in a project, where I had to say, that it should be implemented in C/C++. I say almost, because there was 1, one, project, where the users thought, that waiting 2 seconds for a relatively complex search, was too much. I actually had to talk to customers who claimed that the application froze! :omg: , and in reality, the database and the network were the real bottlenecks. "After all it's just text at the end of the day. - Colin Davies "For example, when a VB programmer comes to my house, they may say 'does your pool need cleaning, sir ?' " - Christian Graus

[Justin Cooke]

I'm sorry...I should have clarified my comment. As you can see from my posts, I'm totally new to Java. So, I've never actually written anything I found to be slow. It's just that every time I run a program that "appears" to be written in Java, it's very slow to respond to interface interaction. I say "appears" to be written in Java, because I'm not certain (it has that Sun style interface, so I'm guessing it's Java). Either way, I hope to find that you're right about it being quick enough because I'm pretty impressed with the bit of the language I've learned so far. Two things that I've been disappointed with are the lack of destructors and enums. Are there good ways to implement these in Java? Thanks, Justin

[jan larsen]

Justin Cooke wrote: it has that Sun style interface, so I'm guessing it's Java It's Java allright :-), or rather, the Swing framework. And I agree, it's slow. It was actually the choice of GUI framework for the project I talked about, and someplaces, I found the reactions heartbreaking slow. But it was still not the source of complaint from the customers. I hate Swing, some of the components seems so halfmade, and 3 years ago, while Swing was actually 'old', there were still enough bugs to fill up days, even weeks, on rewriting and workarounds. Justin Cooke wrote: Two things that I've been disappointed with are the lack of destructors and enums. Are there good ways to implement these in Java? There is no real built-in functionality for those, allthough you could claim that finalize() is a sort of destructor. Just remember that you never know when finalize will run, and that finalizers aren't executed on system exit. Enums is a whole other story. I find the claim that 'Java is written for simplicity' too vague an excuse for not providing an enum type. The usual workaround pattern, not adopted by the API, is to do like this:

public final class NoYes
{
public static final NoYes No = new NoYes();
public static final NoYes Yes = new NoYes();

private NoYes(){}
}
...
public void foo(NoYes noYesArg)
{
if (noYesArg == NoYes.Yes)
{
...
}
}
...

Hm..., I'm too tired to remember why this won't be sufficient in a network situation using eg. RMI. But feel free to ask another day, in another forum :-) "After all it's just text at the end of the day. - Colin Davies "For example, when a VB programmer comes to my house, they may say 'does your pool need cleaning, sir ?' " - Christian Graus