Java How to Program, Fifth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: All the contents of the book is very informative, and the book also provides clear explanations through all the sections in the book. The 'Good Programming Practice' and 'Common Programming Errors' are very useful to avoid the reader from making simple syntax errors in writing java programs, especially for those without any programming experience.

Rating:
Summary: Do not Buy this or any Dietel Book!!!
Review: I have never used any text books worse than Dietel ones. How to program in Java and thier C++ books are awful. My college requires these books and I really don't understand why.

They break each page up with what they call "good programming practices" and "performance tips" and "common programming errors" and these completely interupt any flow of ideas the main "body" of the book might be trying to convey.

I tried to skip the annoying interuption sections and just read the text, but it is impossible.

Please do not waste your time on this book, and if your instructor makes you buy it, beg him or her profoundly to use a different book.

I am very disgusted with this book. I wish the Dietel's would just stop making them!!!! If I could have given it negative stars I would have.

Rating:
Summary: Long and extremely tiring (bad)
Review: I'm new to java after 17 years working in IT. This book is long, tiring, over-detailed. Go with Beginning Java 2 of Ivan Horton if you want to learn Java, this is the best for Java beginner

Rating:
Summary: For a textbook, it's the best I've seen
Review: I've seen the negative reviews and before everyone pounces on me and shreds my opinion to bits, keep in mind that this is a textbook, thus it won't be as comprehensive as a 1447 page technical manual, nor will it be as simple as "Java for Dummies" because the target audience seems to be those with prior programming experience or classes. They breeze through the universal concepts like arrays, loops, etc. but slow down and explain the more complicated aspects, and I think they did everything right.

The textbook is large, and teaches a whole year's worth of Java at an excellent pace. It contains information for everyone, server information for the future online service provider, enough graphics/sound information to make future game programmers squeal, and enough everything else for the business application creator. No other textbook or private tutorial I've read has ever had this much information, and as a future hopeful game programmer, Chapter 19, including the elevator case study at the end, helped me cross the largest and most frustrating information gap I've ever suffered.

The examples are sound, and the exercises are sensible. Of course, naturally, they won't likely contribute to what you want to do as a programmer, but if that bugs you so much then don't take classes. There aren't as many errors as in other textbooks either, and while I could list some blatant ones I've seen in other textbooks to compare, (hint: 56k modems transferring "56 kilobytes per second"(cic)) I'm saving them for future reviews...

The book goes into intense detail about many seemingly trivial aspects of various objects, but when it comes to debugging, you'll be glad they're there. Sure, the fact that a byte only takes up 1 byte of data while an int takes up 4 bytes seems pointless when you're making a program to add two numbers, but when you have to make a multidimensional array of 1000 x 1000 numbers from one to 100, such information can mean the difference to future customers with old machines due to their tight finances. A more relevant tidbit is that objects are pointed to when transferred by, say, Object whatever = oldobj. Knowing this will save you one of the worst kinds of debugging hunts you can embark upon.

Ultimately, this is still the best of the textbook genre I've ever seen. Don't be turned off by the low ratings: It's not for self-learners, and 1st level (but accelerated) programming classes have a high turnover rate. It's not the book's fault.

Rating:
Summary: Again, schools choose the worst of the lot
Review: It never ceases to amaze me: why do schools consistently choose the worst books out of so many titles out there? Look at the reviews for most of the books they choose and you'll see what I mean.

This book mires you with dense details from the start. What a way to start your programming class or career. It would've made a ton of difference if they started with some meaty examples so that the beginning programmer can see something tangible. "Hello World!"? Please. They dive right into dissecting every little detail, line by line. You never get to see the big picture because your brain is trying to figure out every line. I've read both the Java, C++ and C by Deitel and I've never came away thinking I can put everything together and build something useful.

If you know another language, don't buy this book. If you need a reference, don't buy this book. If you are taking a class, you'll probably be forced to buy this book.