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Learning Java - Book Recommendation

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by lance.spence

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I am currently taking a basic Java 1 course; however the book seems to be lacking in various areas where more thorough information could be provided.

Can anyone recommend a good beginners book that explains things that aren't in the style of for instance the Microsoft Press Books? We are using Java Software Solutions foundations of program design 4th edition by Lewis & Loftus.

I am not totally new to programming, but I am to Java. I want to develop a solid foundation of the basics before branching on to more advanced Java topics.

14 replies

by jaqui

check the sams catalog.
I'm sure they have a java book for either the 24 hours or 21 days series.

not a heavy weight book series, but a quick study of the basics.

by dogma123

There are two I am using. The best because it is written in laymans english is Sams Teach yourself java in 24 hours.
The other is a bit more complex but still written for the novice.
Java Programing, Second Edition by Joyce Farrell. This is a text book that you can find online. isbn 0-619-21500-3

by lance.spence

Thank you for the recommendations. I'm somewhat hesitant on the "Learn xxx in 24 hrs" and "Learn xxx in 21 days" series of books, as I found poor reviews of some others in the past. I will take a look at them though, these may be better written than the ones I looked at that were on other subjects.

by palmflo321

The Sam's Learn Java in 21 days is pretty good as long as you type in all the examples in that book, and compile, and execute them. I read that book from cover to cover, and it helps me out a lot. You might want to look into Wrox books. They have excellent books for beginners. Their website is www.wrox.com. I learned XML, HTML, JavaScript from their books.

by jslarochelle

The "Head first" books are excellant. The presentation is great and fun. The choice of topic covered is good and goes the extra length. That is, you also get a good introduction to OOP fundamentals and how you can use Java constructs to write good classes and build a good design. Using the "Head First Pattern" book I found that the knowledge gain stayed with me more and that ended up using the pattern catalog less often (you have to do all this exercises to get this).
Of course the book cannot cover all topics and not all topics included in dept but you get a solid foundation on which to build.

by georgehsnyder

I started out with:

O'Reilly's Learning Java second edition by Patrick Niemeyer & Jonathan Dnudsen

and

"The JFC Swing Tutorial" I have the book but it is also downloadable from the web.

Once you get the hang of it, The Java API that is downloadable from Sun has all the answers. I have it on all the machines I use for development.

by lance.spence

Thank you all for the great references. I looked briefly at the Learn Java in 21 Days and it actually looks like it might be pretty good. One thing I liked was that at the end of each chapter there were Java Certification questions to not only re-enforce the material, but to also help prepare you for the SCJP. That I find to be a seller in itself, when a book provides additional material as this.

I will also look into some of the other references provided as well. Again thank you to all.

by darrellrisley

If you are still looking, I would recommend Prentice Hall's Small Java How to Program 6e book by Deitel and Deitel.
This is a condensed version of their Java How To Program 6th edition, containing only 10 chapters. I find it very good at explaning the concepts with rock solid examples and numerous exercises, great general programming tips and review questions (with answers).
I found the full blown version of JAVA How To Program to be almost overwhelming.

by jlrobins

Now, I tried the Java in 24 hours shortly after it came out and was NOT impressed with it. I have worked with several procedural languages and SQL. It just did not give me what I needed to actively write Java. I could mimic what they did. But it did not give me what I needed to 'grow' writing Java.

I am currently working with some of Sun's online "intro" tutorials and a couple of more advanced Java books, Java I/O and another I don't remember right off, to actually do programming in Java.

by ricardomenendez

Hi Lance,

you shouldn't pay attention only to those few bad reviews. I've personally had great experiences with the SAMS in 21 days/24 hours series for SQL Server 2000 and for UML. The purpose of these books are to give you a general grasp of the matter. they are not in-depth books and shouldn't be treated as though they were your only learning source. They are specially useful because they go down to the basics and some of the other popular Java books are specially harder to follow for beginners because some previous knowledge is taken for granted.
That's my experience at least. Hope it helps.

by jaswindersingh

Dear Lance,
Nice to hear that you are interested in learning java. At this point I would you suggest you two books
1. Head First Java, which apart from making your fundamentals clear is very interactive as well.
2. Complete Reference for java.
I hope my suggestions would help you.
Regards,
Jaswinder.

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