Rating: 
Summary: Stellar
Review: ...what the prior two reviews said and...Ignore the previous comment to buy the 5th edition. JDK 1.4 adds many time saving classes(RegEx's, Enhanced formatting in Swing). This alone will save you many hours with the tedious aspects of Swing. Also, I personally like a book that takes up less space and is lighter. I also like that the book doesn't tediously walk you through the sample code after listing it. New concepts are presented with code snippets, then the sample code is laid out. I learn best by figuring out puzzles for myself, and not being walked regurgitatingly through it again. Chapter layout is good, _EXCEPT_, Exceptions should should be stressed very early in the book, not next to last. Having a good exception understanding is paramount in a object message handling system. Sadly, probably most people don't get this far in the book. Highly Recommended along with Core JFC (if your doing a lot of Swing). If you're new to Java, this book is up there with the top.
Rating:
Summary: My most used book
Review: Another great version. This is the 4th version of Cora Java I have purchased. Since I am a Java hobbyist, this book gets used a lot. Easy to understand explanations and great, useful code examples are the hallmark of the Core Java books and this version is one of the best. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for basics of Java
Review: Be aware, this is not a step-by-step kind of introduction book.
This is more designed towards programmers with experience(could be coming from C++, Smalltalk, C etc).
Gives a clean perspective on the basics of the language. Distinguishes Java from other OO programming languages with respect to inheritance etc. This book has helped many great developers to get good at the fundamentals of the language and is a good stepping stone to move into bigger aspects. Has elaborate intros and examples on Swing aswell. Highly recommended for starters on the language. Great reference to keep at your desk.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent job for the 7th edition
Review: Horstmann and Cornell have done it again. Core Java and its soon to be released volume 2 will make anyone a great Java programmer and enthusiast. Java is becoming robust and mature enough to go head to head with Microsoft .Net. Understanding Java and J2EE will make you an excellent commodity. These books will help you lay the foundation.
If you are a beginner try intermingling these books with Java: How to Program from Deitel & Deitel.
Rating: 
Summary: The only Java book to buy!
Review: Horstmann has been in this business for 6 years. I read all the Java books that he wrote. A professor from Germany, knows all the details and pitfalls of Java, gives good contrast with C++ and makes it easy for anyone to start programming from ground zero. Yes, SDK 1.4 compiler rules!... I use his books for Developer training in 6 colleges and companies in the New York area since 1997. Most of the readers (my students) enjoy his books. The coverage of Applet is very poor. The next book, should have the SDK1.5 compiler or ?? version, with the Sun One Studio editor, and the source codes all installed on the CD-ROM. Comparing with Deitel... this book is more practical in the business world. If it has more examples in finance, fixed income, or derviatives, the book will be better.
Rating:
Summary: Definative starting point for learning JAVA
Review: Horstmann is a great author bringing complex subject matter explainations down to the rest of us. However, you will need Volume II: Advanced features if you really want to program is JAVA though..
Rating:
Summary: Love the small font/book size of this 6th edition
Review: I absolutely love this edition's small size, resulted mainly from using a smaller font by the printer, in sharp contrast to many other bloated door stoppers. The excellent, solid, and comprehensive tutorial/reference materials are jampacked into about 700 pages. Definitely looking forward to a similarly printed Volume 2, which is currently in its 5th printed in a larger font--thus significantly thicker and heavier. After some extensive browsing, sampling, and committing time seriously going through a number of Java books, I concluded that "Core Java 2" (both volumes together) is the best on the subject.
Rating:
Summary: perfect
Review: I am a somewhat experienced programmer and this book was the text for my graduate-level course on Java. I also purchased some of the optional books, and this book is far and away the best purchase. Sun publishes this book, so it contains the definitive information. In fact, it goes into great detail without being boring or elementary. The sample programs are quick and to the point. I admire that the discussion of the programming language admits the language's flaws as well as its benefits. The book also talks about how the language is really used, vs. how it was designed. A particular feature of the book are sections where they explain how Java is different from C++. This is very useful for a C++ programmer.
Rating:
Summary: A serious, thorough treatment of Java...
Review: I had a chance to review the book Core Java 2 - Volume 1 - Fundamentals (7th Edition) by Cay S. Horstmann and Gary Cornell (Prentice Hall). This is a very good choice for experienced programmers who want to learn Java and have a good reference book to continue to use over time...
Chapter List: An Introduction to Java; The Java Programming Environment; Fundamental Programming Structures in Java; Objects and Classes; Inheritance; Interfaces and Inner Classes; Graphics Programming; Event Handling; User Interface Components with Swing; Deploying Applets and Applications; Exceptions and Debugging; Streams and Files; Generic Programming; Java Keywords; Retrofitting JDK 5.0 Code; Index
When a book survives into its seventh edition, you know it must be good. Core Java 2 is that. It's a solid, serious treatment of the Java language with plenty of examples and in-depth explanations as to how things work. And while no single book can cover the complete Java API, this book does a good job of documenting each area they cover so that you can refer back to the work as you start to use Java on a regular basis. There are not a lot of good Java learning books that also adequately serve as a reference book. The authors should be commended for this.
Because the authors target "serious" developers, there's less emphasis on Hello World type applications and more focus on the types of routines you might find yourself writing in a business environment. There's also coverage of the newest features in Java 1.5, so you can buy this particular edition with fear of having it be obsolete in a month.
This is a volume that I'll happily keep on my shelf and refer to as I get into some of the newer features of Java...
Rating: 
Summary: You'd be better off with Google
Review: I have read a lot of technical books in my day, and I am flat out tired of the poorly organized books authored by proficient techies who can not organize topics or write. Core Java falls into this category. The book is bloated and disproporionate. Why is 2/7 of the book spent on GUI-related concepts at the expense of fundamentals? Why is reflection covered along with inheritance? Why do examples contain anonymous inner classes (which the author admits are bad)? Why do the examples consistently use concepts that are covered chapters later? The answer is because the book is poorly written and organized. Save your money and use the Internet to learn Java. It's free, and it's better. I get the feeling that those who favorably review this book are defending Java more than the book. This is not a debate over the technology. It is simply a review of a book intended to teach technology. The book is bad. Java might be, too, but that is another topic altogether.
| 
