Assuming an experienced software developer fluent in many languages, but having not entered the Java world from the ground floor, which single book related to the huge space that is the Java world would you recommend as a decent overview from which further expertise can be developed?
views:
1365answers:
35+1. for the free resource. 4th Edition print is here:http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-4th-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0131872486/
Mitch Wheat
2009-01-11 08:11:17
I can't really stand Eckel's writing style. He takes himself way to seriously.
PEZ
2009-01-11 08:48:06
This book seemed OK for me until I stumbled over his "The copy constructor" contemplations (2nd edition Appendix A). Apparently He believes that there is no "slicing problem" in C++. But maybe he just does not know C++ :-)
Maxim Vladimirsky
2009-01-11 09:11:51
Downvoted, the book is wayyyyy too long.
Click Upvote
2009-01-11 15:09:29
"... the language of the world-wide web", that's a bit much
Steve Kuo
2009-01-11 18:08:54
Thinking in Java is too long? It's not "See Jane Run" or something like that but that's kind of a weak version to downvote. Perhaps it's mroe of a book for grown ups. :)
BobbyShaftoe
2009-01-11 19:20:46
I'd say that if it's to be a SINGLE book, it can't be too long.
PEZ
2009-01-11 19:41:41
It's a great book *BUT* there are some seriously misleading sections in the concurrency chapter. (And it would be nice if he split it into 2 volumes though.)
Jason S
2009-01-19 14:39:43
The code samples are utterly bad.
kungfoo
2009-08-24 12:50:50
+4
A:
How about Java in a nutshell by David Flanagan. I really like his style of writing and explanation.
Khnle
2009-01-11 08:06:52
There is a newer edition that covers Java 5.0: http://www.amazon.com/Java-Nutshell-5th-David-Flanagan/dp/0596007736/
Spoike
2009-01-11 08:10:20
There is, but at 1254 pages, it ought to be renamed 'Java In A Very Big Nutshell'!
Pourquoi Litytestdata
2009-01-11 12:44:43
+19
A:
Effective Java by Joshua Bloch. It's freaking good. If you were to chose a single book on programming, in any language, this would be a major candidate.
EDIT: Follow takacsot's advice about using Sun's online introduction. Then buy the Effective Java book. You'll never regret it.
PEZ
2009-01-11 08:47:12
While this is an excellent book, it's not a good book for someone "entering Java".
cletus
2009-01-11 08:52:09
Yes it is. Especially "Assuming an experienced software developer fluent in many languages".
PEZ
2009-01-11 08:53:27
I agree that it is a good book, but it more or less assumes that you know Java already.
Brian Rasmussen
2009-01-11 09:08:16
That's what's so refreshing with it. The threshold is easily overcome if you just fool around some with the language.
PEZ
2009-01-11 09:12:32
I'd agree that Bloch's book is excellent (and a must-read for serious Java developers), but I'd also agree that it's not necessarily suitable for someone who's expecting to pick up the language. For that, I'd recommend the Sun tutorials or one of the other books mentioned.
Rob
2009-01-11 18:19:18
Yes, I have read it without knowing Java and with superficial knowledge of OOP, and I found it excellent on both points, amusing yet serious, with good concrete examples, not skipping finer points, etc. Excellent reading.
PhiLho
2009-01-11 09:00:27
I wouldnt recommend it to some who has experience from other programming languages though.
willcodejavaforfood
2009-01-11 10:28:31
+8
A:
No book is needed. My personal favorite is the java tutorial on http://java.sun.com. That is more than enough.
EDIT: Tutorial link: http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/
takacsot
2009-01-11 12:39:53
+1, i'm going through that right now. was also going to post this but you beat me!
Click Upvote
2009-01-11 15:10:02
See my comment here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/432549/what-single-book-would-you-recommend-for-entering-java#433077
DrJokepu
2009-01-11 18:25:27
A:
Object First With Java : A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ
Depending on experience this book is a brilliant introduction to both Java and Object Orientation.
Dynite
2009-01-11 12:41:37
+1
A:
Just to complete the list, a good first Java book could also be Java How To Program.
pek
2009-01-11 12:48:32
+2
A:
"The Java Programming Language" written by one of its inventors (James Gosling)
kind regards,
Jos
JosAH
2009-01-11 14:33:48
A:
I think your quest for a SINGLE book would be a little difficult :)
Assuming you are an experienced developer, you probably need some resource that gives you a starting point for various things you might be interested in. For this, I would recommend the InformIT Java reference section.
And for quick access to java code snippets, I would recommend the excellent Java2S site.
I agree totally - the reference should be the #1 source of information. A few years old book can get easily outdated, while the official reference is probably updated to cover the latest additions. For example, a book written before generics might advocate approaches that are not feasible today.
DrJokepu
2009-01-11 18:24:49
+2
A:
I believe that Java is such a big platform that no single book can cover it all.
If you need to learn object orientation, the Head First Java book does it really well.
If you need to learn the Java runtime library (which is biiig) I'd suggest wading through the Java Tutorials from Sun.
If you need a good cookbook reference http://www.exampledepot.com/ is really nice (and is printed in a book too).
The most important thing is, however, experience. Code stuff :) Project Euler http://projecteuler.net/ has a lot of simple and challenging problems and most likely have some you'd like to do.
Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
2009-01-11 16:04:01
+1, even if it's obvious learning oo isn't needed. But thanks for those links. Neat!
PEZ
2009-01-11 16:09:16
"An experienced software developer fluent in many languages, but having not entered the Java world" does not imply knowledge of object oriented programming to me. Examples: Turbo Pascal (before version 5), Basic, Cobol, C, assembler, etc.
Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
2009-01-21 14:33:57
+1
A:
Has anyone read Introduction to Java Programming by Y.Daniel Liang? It's what I use, and it's quite a good book with plenty of detail.
Jean Azzopardi
2009-01-11 16:20:29
A:
As you have previous programming experience, and thus don't need an introduction to control structures, object orientation etc, I would recommend Java Precisely, which is a very concise reference to most of the Java langauge.
Henrik
2009-01-11 17:57:25
A:
I'd suggest the free online training courses from Sang Shin on JavaPassion.com with or without homework, just how you need it.
Peter
2009-01-19 13:29:05
+2
A:
Head first java book by Kathy Siera & Bert Bates.All the books in head first series are very very good.
BlackPanther
2009-01-19 13:32:11
This is an excellent book - but it's not for learning either Java or Objects - it's for learning elusive best practices in java (and avoiding anti-patterns), primarily after you learn the core language.
Jared
2009-05-23 18:28:35
I gathered from the original question that the poster is already familiar with Objects (since C++) and that learning the Java syntax is something he didn't want to read a book on.
GreenieMeanie
2009-05-23 18:58:03
Why did this get more votes than the other Effective Java answer, which beat it by four months?
Michael Myers
2009-06-04 18:39:17
+1
A:
Effective Java, second edition. The second edition covers generics and other features added in the 1.5 language revision.
Paul Morie
2009-05-22 20:24:43
+2
A:
This may be ancient now days, but I really liked Thinking in Java. It was a number of years ago but was freely available.
Tom Hubbard
2009-05-22 20:25:23
+11
A:
My situation was similar to yours. I tried a couple of different books and settled on Thinking in Java by Bruce Eckel.
It assumes you know basic programming and some programming language terminology.
Kevin Beck
2009-05-22 20:25:25
I added a link to the free online edition, but be aware that there is a 4th edition that covers topics up to Java 1.5. This is really what I consider the best Java book for experienced programmers, with Effective Java being the best book for experienced *Java* programmers.
Bill the Lizard
2009-05-22 20:28:46
Seconding the Thinking in Java recommendation. I'd then follow up with Effective Java (second edition).
Dave W. Smith
2009-05-23 19:11:22
+3
A:
Rather than third the excellent recommendations for "Effective" and "Thinking", I'll add "Java Concurrency In Practice" by Brian Goetz. And "Pro Spring" because I think Spring is terrific.
duffymo
2009-05-22 20:31:24
Again - both excellent books, but not good for learning Java or Objects (both are topics the original asker will need to learn long before he needs specialty info on best practices and concurrency.)
Jared
2009-05-23 18:29:24
"... I want to learn Java, but almost every book I pick up starts with teaching the rudiments of programming ..."- I think this means he know enough about OOP :)
adrian.tarau
2009-05-23 20:04:52
A:
Java Concurrency in Practice is excellent, assuming you're interested in concurrency. It assumes quite a bit of prior knowledge about Java though so as suggested should probably be a companion to some of the other recommendations (TIJ, EJ etc).
bm212
2009-05-22 20:37:21
A:
Agile Java by Langr is excellent if you also want an intro to Test Driven Design and the basic agile approach.
Rob Scott
2009-05-22 20:39:42
+1
A:
You might consider reading the Java Language Specification, it is quite readable as specifications go.
starblue
2009-05-22 21:01:10
I think you would want to wait until you are more familiar with Java before trying to tackle that....
GreenieMeanie
2009-05-22 21:17:49
I did that in 2001 with the 2nd edition and didn't regret it. It depends on your experience and whether you can stomach such relatively dry stuff. The advantage is that you get the information from the source, and you know where to check when in doubt.
starblue
2009-05-23 07:31:22
A:
In addition to Effective Java and JCIP.
The Java Power Tools book
Fortyrunner
2009-05-22 22:57:40
A:
Lots of answers here point to great books about Java topics (concurrency, best practices, etc), but coming from C/C++ you're going to need to learn two things:
- Solid object oriented analysis and design (C doesn't support OO, and most C++ projects don't do objects in the same way that Java does objects.)
- The Java language itself
The best books I've found for this are:
- Thinking in Java (Eckel)
- Java: How to Program (Deitel and Deitel)
- Head First Java (Sierra, Bates - for a lighthearted approach)
At some point rather quickly in your Java progression, you're going to have to start "getting" OO design patterns (especially if you're not used to thinking that way.) These two might help (but ultimately only experience will really do the trick):
- Design Patterns (Gamma, et al - the academic version)
- Headfirst Design Patterns (Freeman, et al - the lighthearted, more recent, version)
Jared
2009-05-23 18:36:06
A:
Consider Java in a nutshell
It has a chapter "Java syntax from the ground up" for which the description reads "Programmers with substantial experience with languages such as C and C++ should be able to pick up the Java syntax quickly by reading this chapter". Many other chapters are relevant as well.
Bruno De Fraine
2009-05-23 19:07:36
A:
In a similar situation I went for Peter van der Linden's Just Java 2.
This book covers the language itself (types, operators, statements), key libraries (e.g. threads, collections, IO, etc.), an introduction to gui programming, databases and JDBC, servlets and jsp, xml. It's still just under 800 pages.
I quite like the author's writing style. It's authoritative -- a lot of text to go through, but each chapter ends with a "Some Light Relief" section which contains humorous Java related anecdotes. Wholeheartedly recommended.
bromfiets
2009-11-08 14:23:00
A:
I suggest you read the source in src.zip, esp the packages java.* and javax.*
Peter Lawrey
2009-11-08 16:22:00