Rating: 
Summary: Leaves Nothing Out & Explains Perfectly, A First In CS Books
Review: This book makes only one assumption and that is you know nothing about computer science or programming and this my friends is a good thing for all beginners. You will learn things in this book your Intro To CS101 in high school and college probably missed. The casual yet concise to the point language used in this power packed book makes understanding object oriented java programming a breeze to learn. This book can also serve the intermediate level programmer and be retained as a great reference. Out of all the books I've read on various kinds of computer languages including 4 others on java, I really didn't beleive books like this could be wrote without forgetting to bridge at least some concepts together properly. Its value as a book has definitely exceeded its expense. If you want or have to learn java, this is the book. period!
Rating:
Summary: Damn near perfect
Review: This book sets the standard. I have yet to find another computer book that comes close. I am half way through the book. I did look at Sun's site which I could not really follow since it did not have that theory and example balance. Too much of what you do not yet know is presented. I have spent about 30 hours at Amazon reading reviews and the another 30 hours in book stores searching for the best books in the Microsoft world (VB, MTS, ASP) and JavaScript books. Even with the best books (5 star) my rate of learning has always felt slow. Either I don't really know what they are talking about or they take forever to make a point and there are not enough examples. I pick this book on Java up and my rate of learning is fast. It is virtually perfect, and here is why: 1/ The order in which you can read the book is explicitly stated. 2/ References beyond the stated scope of the book are held to a minimum. 3/ Points are stated simply so you can learn from a knowledge level significantly lower than the authors. 4/ Refer to previous chapters specifically by page reference and only when necessary. 5/ The material is in a logical order. 6/ A consistent level of detail is used. 7/ Material is direct and succinct, so you need not 'skim'. 8/ Examples: (i) are well written with good coding practices and no errors. (ii) are connected to other examples to help illustrate a point. (iii) are the optimum size. Usually they are too long. (iv) do not contain irrelevant code but enough to allow comprehension. (v) there is a good ratio of theory to examples. (vi) options are discussed. "This method is better than that method..." 9/ A web site for the book exists which gives corrections and supplemental material. 10/ A message board is created for the book so readers can help each other. (He did not do this but I think it is a good idea.) 11/ Tells you where to go from here. (I have to ask Savitch when I'm done.) I may get Ivor Horton's book and The Java Programming Language, Third Edition
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reference and beginner's learning guide
Review: This is a very nicely written book. Savitch presents material in a simplistic and user friendly manner that makes learning easy and fun. Many books don't explain things clearly or expect you to already know terms and concepts in Java while serving as a beginner's manual. Savitch not only makes thorough explanations and examples, but reinforces them with complete definitions and practice problems. This is the best book I've seen. I highly recommend this book to the beginning Java programmer.
Rating:
Summary: Great book for beginning Java Programmers!
Review: This is an excellent book for beginning Java programmers. The writing is clear and consise and the program examples throughout each chapter succintly illustrate the point being discussed. He also gives exercises in each chapter with answers and problems at the end of the chapter without the answers. I highly recommend that you do the exercises and problems to complete ones understanding of the material.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely good!
Review: This is the best book I can find to begin learning Java. The detailed explanations and comfortable layout and design of the book make it the best book for beginners. You can easily understand all the points that the author wants to say. The accompanied CD containing Borland JBuilder and TextPad has no expiration.This book by Walter Savitch is so well-organised and helps me a lot through the systematic approach. Although you may often need to refer back several pages for the examples, it's worthwhile to do so, because the examples are quite good. Besides, it covers most of the syllabus of the Java Examination except the topics of Thread and Networking. After finishing this book, I think I can read other advanced books or go into special topics like JSP/Servlets/JavaBeans/Jini. I bought the Core Java 2 Vol 1 and think that is about fundamentals as the title says. But that's not for the beginners to read, even they have learned VB or C++ before. Previously that was the bestseller in Amazon and I trust it's worth to buy, but I regret! I have also read some other beginner books. Java 2 How to Java is not so easy to read if no programming experience and too heavy! Java 2 From Scratch is quite difficult to read and not suitable for beginners, but teaches you write a real life application! The Complete Idiot's Guide to Java 2 has too few examples and topics! Idiot may think it's not worthy. Java 2: A Beginner's Guide explains the concepts with just several words only. How can the beginners use this guide? Sometimes the bestseller/official books may not be suitable for you and try to read some other books which can meet your own needs and learning approach.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent ++
Review: This is truly an excellent book on Java and OOP, even if you are new to computer programming. Each topic is explained very thoroughly and the programming examples are easy to understand. The book is very well organized. Most books on Java that I've encountered are so obtuse that, even if you're familiar with programming, you'll drown in the example programs alone. It's nice to know that there's someone out there that not only understands Java and OOP but also can explain it clearly. Savitch is the man!
Rating: 
Summary: A fat textbook plumped up with unnecessary boxes & diagrams
Review: Yuck. With the low level of the material, the author could have covered it in half the time. Instead, you get tons of extra pages where the text gets lazy and explains with pictures something that ought to have been told in words, for conceptual clarity. The programming examples aren't that helpful, either. Get the book "Learning Java" published by O'Reilly, if you're actually interested in learning the language. If you have to buy this as a textbook, keep it in good shape so you can turn around and resell it on Amazon.
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