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Java in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition

By David Flanagan
March 2005
Pages: 1254
Series: In a Nutshell
ISBN 10: 0-596-00773-6 | ISBN 13: 9780596007737
(Average of 4 Customer Reviews)

Description

Java in a Nutshell, 5th Edition, covers all the extensive changes implicit in 5.0, the latest and greatest version of Java yet. This classic remake has also undergone a complete editorial makeover in order to more closely meet the needs of the modern Java programmer. Among the improvements: more discussion on tools and frameworks, and new code examples to illustrate the working of APIs.
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Featured customer reviews

Superb as a textbook too,  May 21 2007
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

I use the 5th edition of Java in a Nutshell as the textbook for an undergraduate course on Java programming which focusses on concurrency and other "advanced" features of the language. Some of the students find the style intimidating initially, but they mostly adapt quite quickly. The very focussed tutorial material at the start of the book gives an excellent run through for anyone who can already program, and the API reference material at the back is extremely helpful for novices who need to browse to find out more about what the libraries can do. I think this is a superb teaching resource for anyone learning Java as a second or subsequent language. The on-line APIs are important too, but having a book to hand can make all the difference and this is the book to have.



A book you will use throughout your career,  February 15 2007
Submitted by Matthew Mark Miller   [Respond | View]

I disagree that this book is "not good for beginners." This is the book I learned Java from. The first few hundred pages constitute a condensed but never diluted tutorial with short and to the point examples on how to do everything in the language. There's no dalliance on minor points, no exercises, no workbook -- just the facts you need to get started WORKING with Java.

For a while there wasn't a day when I didn't rely on this book to fill in when my knowledge was lacking. Even now, as a certified developer in his eighth year working with this stuff, there are times when I grab for the book to get an overview over some relatively obscure API or language feature.

This is not a deep book. It does not proffer information that you can't get from other places. The API documentation is no replacement for a link to the platform API nor the tutorial a replacement for the language spec. Regardless, this book organizes essential information in an eminently usable way, and for that I give it highest marks. And then I'm buying yet another copy.


Excellent Reference,  September 12 2006
Submitted by Anonymous Reader   [Respond | View]

This is one of the best books I've ever seen. I am a computer science and computer engineering double major ready to enter the workforce after this semester, and while I've read computer book after computer book during my educational years, I have seen very few like this one.

For me, this book had two key parts: A syntax overview portion in the front of the book and a very large reference to the Java API farther in. I was able to very quickly learn the essentials of programming in Java using the syntax chapters early (it should be noted that I had a lot of previous programming experience in other object oriented language). It gave me exactly what I needed without a lot of extra verbosity, and it used concise, well commented examples to help me see the basics. Once I started programming, the API reference was really helpful. It was faster to use than Sun's documentation, and it was selective in how much it would list for a class, which tended to make it much easier to find relevant information. I used this book constantly, and I know it saved me many hours of frustration. In short, if you are going to program in Java, this is the book you must have.

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Media reviews
"...this book was a tremendous help when I first started using Java and continues to be an outstanding reference as I become more experienced in Java. I feel the book is laid out well with an easy to follow format and has tons of ‘good’ coding examples. I also like how O’Reilly created a class index that is separate from the regular index. – this is really helpful when looking up items related to a specific class. In short, this is a very good book for both beginners and experienced Java programmers."
-- Dave Fecak, Philadelphia Area Java Users' Group

"Here's a classic that just keeps on keep up with the state of the language...Flanagan has once again done an outstanding job in providing a succinct reference manual that covers the latest version of the Java language. He's added a new chapter to cover Java 5.0 features such as generic types, enumerated types, and annotations. There is also coverage of some new features in chapter 2, such as autoboxing and the new for/in statement. This coverage method (most of the new stuff in one area) means that readers who are upgrading their copy can easily flag the new material they need to read."
--Thomas Duff, Duffbert's Random Musings, April 2005

"One has to wonder about an 'In a Nutshell' book that goes over 1000 pages, but that aside, this is one of the best Java books out there, no matter what your goals are."
--S. Pow, Jr., Amazon.com review, June 2005

"... it remains a classic, a classic renewed."
--Nicola Pedot, JUG Trento, June 2005

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"...this book was a tremendous help when I first started using Java and continues to be an outstanding reference as I become more experienced in Java."
--Dave Fecak, Philadelphia Area Java Users' Group