Java in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Book for reference only
Review: Excellent reference book (I wish I can stop my review here.) I expected more on overview of Java, and more (clear) examples, since I was fairly new to Java. I was not concerned with JDK versioning, but there is inadequate cover of 1.4.
My suggestion
for beginners: read Thinking in Java first.
for experienced developers: use it as a reference, get another book on a particular subject of interest.

Rating:
Summary: Not very useful
Review: I don't really think that this book is very useful for anyone except for beginners. More than half of the book is an API reference. There is an entry for every class in the Java packages, but I can't see what purpose they serve. There is a brief discussion of the class as a whole and then a list of the fields and methods in that class. But there is no discussion of the individual methods and you can't really get a good idea of how to use the class. You still need to consult the API documentation to use any class with which you are unfamiliar, so why would anyone ever bother using this reference?
The first part of the book is a rather standard introduction to the Java language and the core APIs. I haven't really found this that useful either. The one part of the book I have used a lot is the reference to the Java tools that come with the SDK. This section lists all the command line tools (like java, javac, javap, appletviewer, etc.) and discusses the command line options for each. Very useful, but hardly worth the rest of the book.
For an API reference, you can't beat the API documentation from Sun's Java website - plus it is HTML so you can always have it on you computer. For a syntax reference try the "Java Programming Langugage Specification", or the slightly watered down version "The Java Programming Language", both by James Gosling - who invented the language in the first place. And for real example code, I really like the sister book to this one - Java Examples in a Nutshell. This is a very useful book indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Review: I found Java in a Nutshell very helpful.
In the beginning of the book it explains
a sample program line for line. This is useful
for a beginning Java programmer.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Book
Review: I had to review this book after seeing the many unfairly bad reviews it received. First off, this is a REFERENCE book. It is not meant to be picked up and read to learn how to program. THis book is written for the already learned program who needs to wade through the many Java libraries. Java has so many libraries and the classes have many different functions so a book that puts it into one package is invaluable. Although it may not be as in depth as some would like it serves its purpose.
Also this book is perfect for a good C++ programmer who needs to pick up Java in a week or two. The first four chapters a written to teach a C++ Programmer how to play in the Java sand box.
The reason it only gets three stars though is I hate Java and reference books.

Rating:
Summary: Not a good book on 1.4 features
Review: I have purchased this edition with lot of expectations that i will find all the 1.4 features in this edition with a reasonable amount of coverage. But i am disappointed. The coverage on the new features are given here.
1. Assert - 4 Pages
2. Logging - 1 Page
3. New IO - 11 Pages
4. XML - 4 Pages
5. Preferences API - 2 Pages
6. JASS and JSSE - None
7. Regular Expressions - None
8. Security - Same as in 1.2
If you are new to Java Programming this is still probably one of the best out here. but if you are an experienced Java Programmer who already have Java in a Nutshell previous edition, you may not find this very useful.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing reference
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to try serious Java programming. All languages have a single de-facto reference and this is it. Loads of information on anything you would like to look up, although it is NOT a tutorial.
The one problem I have is the lack of referencing for about 600 pages of the book, which is frustrating to say the least.

Rating:
Summary: I love my nutshell
Review: I keep this book by my side and reference it at least twice a week. An integral part of my Java programmer's desktop library.

Rating:
Summary: I love my nutshell
Review: I keep this book by my side and reference it at least twice a week. An integral part of my Java programmer's desktop library.

Rating:
Summary: Still the Best
Review: I own the previous edition too, and, while this book has gotten huge, that's more the fault of Sun than O'Reilly. As a (reluctant) Java programmer, I use this book nearly everyday. You'll become familiar with the classes you use all the time, but at some point you'll want to use some obscure class you've never touched and your Nutshell book will be there for you. If you program in Java, buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Dang
Review: I think it's been said too many times already, but I found it unbelievable that the tabs and class diagrams were left out of this edition. As with all the other incredulous reviewers, there's little choice: it's the definitive quick reference, but what in the world were the people at O'Reilly (not) thinking when they made those changes?