Head First Java

Rating:
Summary: Sink or swim - I'm diving in........Head First!
Review: I took a beginners Java class a few years ago at my local community college. I've only read the first chapter, but feel that I will gain more practical knowledge in a shorter time period just by using this book!

To the reviewers who scoff at the supposed "MTV" layout of the book, perhaps you're fundementally different at learning than most people. The book was written to reinforce the learning concept, while keeping it not only interesting but challenging.

Although the book assumes a bit of programming experience, I would highly recommend this book for anyone getting started in Java.

To bad this book wasn't used when I took Java at my community college!

Rating:
Summary: MTV meets Java
Review: After receiving this in the mail, I was immediately taken aback. After regaining my composure, and trying to forget about the money I spent on this, I decided to try and read some of this.

There are 2 things that should be addressed:
1) The format
2) The content

IMHO, this is by FAR, the WORST format of ANY type of computer book I have read. Dummies books have their place as do the Complete Idiots series (you have to start somewhere.) This format is nothing like those. At least you know what is content and what is a side offering, but in this book, it's a dummies book that was in an explosion of an nick nack/antique shop . If Nickelodeon (or MTV as aptly noted by another reviewer) were to write a technical book, this is the tripe that would result. If the ability to read a sample chapter had been offered, I would not have purchased this book.

Format: F

The reason I gave it 2 stars is that the content is okay (not great, just okay.) If you could wade through the enormous amount of clipart and nostalgic photos, and actually read the content, you might learn something. The amount of effort to get that data might be just too much however (did I mention the F for format?) If you have at least a passing knowledge of c++, avoid this book (the authors state this but they use the term kick butt.)

Content: C

This is of course my review, and, my opinions, and we all know what opinions are like. Obviously, this book does have some people excited and entertained. That does scare me, but to each their own.

Take my advice, and do NOT buy this book. ...

Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Great book for beginners.

Best place to start learning Java.

Rating:
Summary: The most interesting book I ever found in Java programming!!
Review: This book is great! I've got several Java programming books written in English or Japanese, but none of them like this one. Simple and cute illustrators exlain all the important concepts that you need to know about Java. It's interesting to read and easy to follow. This book can certainly help Java beginners to build up strong foundamental knowledge about the language and also can help those who already got some knowledge about it to clear and refresh your mind again. It is surely a bible that every Java programmer should have!!

But, as others said, if you are a guru of Java, then this book is not the answer for you unless you are a teacher who might find it useful for some references.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for beginneers!
Review: Head First Java is an excellent recommendation for those who are afraid of programming books. The authors' style is inviting and takes all the fears away in an entertaining way and by using examples that just plainly make sense!

Even for me, who I have experience in programming, it has been an excellent tool to clarify some of the basic concepts of OOP and other Java principles.

I liked it so much, that I even got my cousin a copy of it.

Must read!

Rating:
Summary: You may learn a lot and have fun
Review: Sierra and Bates wrote totally unconventional book, the end result is an engaging and funny way to introduce you into the Java world. Give it a try, you may learn a lot and have fun, an opportunity that doesn't happens very often

Rating:
Summary: Making learning fun!
Review: A Tour de force in technical publication. One of those books that makes learning fun. The book can be a little bit confusing if you are absolutely new to programming. It will help you if you have atleast some passing acquaintance with programmig as the authors have stated at the start.
All the way a greattttt! book.

Rating:
Summary: This book is entertaining but who proofreads these books?
Review: I am almost half-way through this book, and the first thing that I want to mention is that this book IS entertaining. On nights when I have been totally exhausted, this book compelled me to sit up for yet another hour reading it. In my prior two or three years of trying to learn programming and specifically OOP I didn't learn as much as I have in this book. That is how good this book is, especially for the beginner to programming.

On to the bad. Wow, the spelling and grammar in this book is appalling. You have to wonder, as creative writers as Kathy and Bert are (Kathy founded the www.javaranch.com website), why did they not at LEAST check to see that the code printed in this book compiles? It royally pisses me off to do a "Code Magnets" puzzle (where you take scrambled pieces of code that fell off a refrigerator, and assemble the pieces to get the displayed output), bang my head for an hour over why I can't successfully compile a program that has: an ArrayList object is created in one method and a copy of the reference to that object in another method is inside of a for loop that uses the actual object reference, ONLY to turn to the next page of the book out of frustration (I don't cheat on these puzzles) and see that the for loop was incorrectly printed in the book.

If I can't have faith in the authors of the book, how am I supposed to have faith that I will learn the Java programming language? If you turn to the index of the book, you will find that the material referenced is NOT on the same page as the index says it is on. This is a big time-waster. My conclusion at this point is that while the authors of the book are indeed enthusiastic about teaching Java, you would think that people who teach Java at SUN would at least be careful enough to assure that their book is a reliable one.

I would seriously think about purchasing a Java programming book written by authors other than the ones who wrote this one, in the future. In the near future I will be back to revise my review of this book, as others for this book have done.

Rating:
Summary: Good for young readers
Review: Have you read "Cartoon History of the Universe"? The irreverent cartoon book that starts by teaching cosmology? Perhaps inspired by that, Sierra and Bates have taken a similar tack to teaching Java. Charmingly distinctive. Aimed at the complete tyro to Java and object-oriented programming. The authors' pedagogy is that you learn better through wide use of visuals, since you can assimilate these better than almost-pure pages of lightly adorned text. So there are copious diagrams, profusely annotated by handwritten doodles. Plus they also provide many exercises, letting you learn by doing. All to the good.

It does have the effect of bulking up the book. Not meant for brevity. A standard Java text could be half this size. But that is the tradeoff in this teaching style.

The book is not necessarily for everyone. A programmer already experienced in another language may want a standard textual approach.

The book's strength is in its appeal to a different person: Not just a Java beginner, but someone completely new to any programming. A far larger audience than experienced programmers. Specifically, the book would be good at the high school level or even primary school. Seriously. I see no reason why a smart fifth grader who wants to do more with computers than browse or write email cannot benefit from the book. There ARE computer books for this age group, but most (all?) seem to be for user level interaction, NOT programming.

So if you have a child who is poking around computers, and you want her to have go further, why not use this book? Ditto if YOU are that fifth grader.

Rating:
Summary: Good Java Book but not for advance users
Review: I am SCJP & SCWCD certified programmer & working on Java. After reading this book I felt it's not very suitable for advance programmer. It will be of great help for beginner & intermediate level programmer (who has experience in VB, C++ or any OO)

BTW: I pass by SCJP using Kathy's book. Excellent one for certification on SCJP 1.4