Rating: 
Summary: Good book but
Review: Actually, it's a very good book but, as with most books, it has a few problems. The RMI examples work fine on one machine. They also work fine on two machines (if you copy the Stub file to the client side). But I have not been able to get any of the examples to work between two machines where the client is trying to dynamically download the Stub file from the server machine. On the author's Web Site[...], he claims that all the RMI example work fine - just keep trying(in FAQ). Well, maybe they work fine between two UNIX machines but I really don't think he verified them between two Windose machines. His one example even crashes my Windows 2000 Professional box when the client side is a Linux box trying to dynamically download the Stub file from a Windows 2000 box.Other than that and the fact that it's not updated for JDK1.3, it's an excellent book. Oh and BTW, if you want to do chapter 4 on JDBC, put aside enough time to choose, setup and create your on DB (this is all assumed). Knowing that most books are never really complete, when his 5th edition for JDK1.3 comes out I will still buy it. However, if I didn't own the book already, I think I'd wait until his 5th edition come out before I'd purchase it.
Rating:
Summary: Good book but
Review: Actually, it's a very good book but, as with most books, it has a few problems. The RMI examples work fine on one machine. They also work fine on two machines (if you copy the Stub file to the client side). But I have not been able to get any of the examples to work between two machines where the client is trying to dynamically download the Stub file from the server machine. On the author's Web Site[...], he claims that all the RMI example work fine - just keep trying(in FAQ). Well, maybe they work fine between two UNIX machines but I really don't think he verified them between two Windose machines. His one example even crashes my Windows 2000 Professional box when the client side is a Linux box trying to dynamically download the Stub file from a Windows 2000 box. Other than that and the fact that it's not updated for JDK1.3, it's an excellent book. Oh and BTW, if you want to do chapter 4 on JDBC, put aside enough time to choose, setup and create your on DB (this is all assumed). Knowing that most books are never really complete, when his 5th edition for JDK1.3 comes out I will still buy it. However, if I didn't own the book already, I think I'd wait until his 5th edition come out before I'd purchase it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't think, buy it!
Review: An excellent book for people who want to have a general knowledge of most of the advanced topics in Java2. Each topic was covered to a reasonable good depth. I would recommend highly to those who are thinking of taking the Sun Java Developper exam. Go buy it now!
Rating: 
Summary: Lengthy, boring and lack of focus
Review: Compared with the first volume, this one is really boring and lengthy. And for those extra pages, few seems to be useful. The examples are not very helpful.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Core Java is a book for serious Java developers. This is not a 'dummies' book. It assumes knowledge of basic programming concepts. It does require a knowledge of Java, but having a C, C++ or Visual Basic background will be a definite plus. You will start with the basics and move up to advanced topics such as: Exception Handling Threads Debugging Data structures Networking Much, much more AWT Remote Objects Database connectivity using JDBC Core Java uses a lot of real world examples you can cut and paste right into your own programs and be running in know time. This is a very valuable book for any Java Developer.
Rating: 
Summary: Covers advanced topics but just brushes thru all of them
Review: Covers all advanced Java topics but the coverage is preliminary.Wasted two chapters trying to cover Advanced swing and Advanced AWT. Graphic Java 2 does a much better job.A bit dissapointed when compared to Vol I . Vol II doesnt have the VB code snippets and C++ analogies which was an irritating feature of Vol I. But as the book is available on great discounts at most online stores its worth the money spent.
Rating:
Summary: Useless to the professional ones.
Review: Even though this is a more than one thousand pages' book its chapters are actually only intoductions to very important topics: multithreading, collections, networking, database connection via JDBC, AWT, swing, security and internationalisation. It is worth the cost ? It depends: if you are an absolute beginner, as I was, you will not regret to have spent your money.
But if you are an experienced Java programmer who works on projects of the real world you will probably look elsewhwere. For instance: if you are involved in making sophisticated Graphic User Interfaces (GUI), notwithstanding the book devotes nearly one third of its pages to Advanced AWT and Swing, it is better to switch directly to the far more comprehensive five 'Graphic Java 2' volumes of one thousand pages each by David Geary. Or if you are working in an enterprise three layer client-server project interacting with a DBMS, the informations you find in the respective chapter are simply commonplace; books (not a single one) on servlets, JDBC and Enterprise Java Bean will be more useful.
Have the authors miss the target ? No, so wide is the Java world that it is impossible to enclose everything in one or two books.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent stuff - Go for it
Review: Excellent resource for serious programmers. Complex topics made easy to understand with lot of useful code. Also covers issues pertaining to developing real applications. In short-- a must have for any serious java programmer.
Rating:
Summary: Java 2 Reference
Review: I am a professional developer, recently switched from C++ and VB to Java. For my purposes, as an experienced OO programmer this book, and its companion volume could not be bettered. Every subject is covered sufficiently for me to write code, at a professional level. I cannot recommend this book highly enough as a reference. I would not suggest that anyone try and learn Java (much less OO) from it - that is not its purpose.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Survey of Advanced Java Topics
Review: I am now using this book for the second semester in an Advanced Java course I teach at the local community college. The purpose of this book is not an in-depth discussion of each topic, but rather a look at the essential features of many advanced features in Java. I like the authors' stlye of starting with the simplest possible program that illustrates some concept. For example, in the RMI chapter a simple console application is used to present a complete RMI client-server application. A similar application is then written using CORBA. The database chapter is similar. Simple programs illustrate basic concepts. So the book is not intended for say the JDBC specialist or the CORBA specialist who needs to understand every facet of the technology. Instead this book is for those who need to know the major features of the advanced Java technologies. The book is not for Java beginners. This volume assumes you know the Java language, with knowledge equivalent to having passed the Sun Certified Java Programmer exam. Those who have difficulty with the text and with the examples may be blaming the authors when the fault actually rests with the reader. I have found the examples to work although the configuration of your system must be precise. All in all a 5 star book. I'm looking forward to the 5th edition, since I admit the binding on my book is broken and pages are falling out - a tribute to the fact that I refer to this book daily.
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