Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected.
Review: First: I still think it is a good book. BUT I wouldn't recommend it for the absolute beginner nor for that matter for the expert.
Second: his humor is only evident at the end of the chapters, leaving you to try and muddle thru the rest of the VERY dry chapter. =(
Third: I agree with a previous reviewer, PvDL has lost some of his enthusiasm for Java and possibly for writing.
OH and fourth: if you're an experienced Java coder, this is probably NOT a book you need.
So really that leaves the experienced programmer that is migrating to Java, or the experienced student that wishes to have a better idea of java than that which he can get from an introductionary book. =/
3 stars. Definitely NOT his best.
Rating: 
Summary: You will find programming is fun with this book!
Review: For those who like to learn programming languages by coping down codes from the book, this is not a good book. For those who want to write your own programs, as reading a book, this is the book for you.
While it is not a complete tutorial book for a beginer, the book has been always updated, and includes many useful example codes. At last, this book is the most fun-to-read programming book I've read.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, what I needed
Review: Good all around beginner book that included advanced topics.
Rating: 
Summary: Brutal...
Review: I absolutely despised reading this book. It was the textbook used for a Java course that I was taking. I found that I used other Java reference books more often than I used this one. Not good for Java beginners, gives a small overview for intermediates.
Rating:
Summary: Great book to get the concepts.
Review: I am a happy owner of the 4th edition of this book and now I am very happy to have the 5th edition of this book. I have studied Java in college courses ( Java came out while I was in grad school :) ) and have occasionally taught people Java in college.The general bits first - While I recommend this book to programmers who are at the start of their Java journey, I would *strongly* recommend this book to the person who's taken a few faltering steps on her Java journey and is lost. Maybe you took a class on Java and forgot some points and want to read a book which will again explain the concepts. This book is for you. How can I say this? Because that's how I chanced on this book. I tried learning Java off and on. Tried the "Thinking in Java" book available on the net, tried the Java tutorials, various websites, the O'Reilly books, the How-to-in-xx-days books, before a friend recommended Peter van der Linden after reading his Deep C Secrets book. The book which really taught me Java was the fourth edition. The fourth edition also taught this C/C++ programmer about Object Oriented Programming. I didn't really grok OO while I was working in C++! This book taught me OO. Most people get rid of their introductory books and keep only reference manuals around (I have no clue where my C introductory book is). I wouldn't say that for this book.This becomes a great "second" introductory or a reintroductory book and I strongly recommend keeping it around. The fifth edition has many changes - several new chapters, many chapters are rewritten (some of them completely rewritten). And I find the author's style very easy to understand. If you are currently learning Java, then I recommend this experiment. Read the I/O material from whichever book that you are using or were told to use. (Supplement it with material from the web - the Java tutorial, the Thinking in Java book which is freely available on the web). Then visit your neighborhood bookstore, open the Simple Input Output chapter from the Just Java 2 (5th ed and not 4th ed, chapter is completely rewritten from the 4th ed except for the I/O poem at the beginning) and watch that figurative bulb light up above your head as the whole I/O thing becomes crystal clear. Wanna do that again? Carry out the same experiment but this time let the topic be inner classes. And this light-bulb-turning-on will happen a whole lot as you are reading various things. And he makes the chapters humorous by putting in a light reading bit at the end of each chapter. If the I/O experiment is not feasible (cos you are just beginning on Java), read what he has to say about Macrovision and how "it defeats piracy" (or not) in the Illegal prime number and t-shirt light reading sections. I suddenly understood why the MPAA was so upset by deCSS! And finally, one last thing - This book doesn't sweat the details too much and I agree with that approach. Try to understand the concept on how to do various things. Most books that go into too much detail are too heavy to even open. (eg. Beginning Java 2 by Ivor Horton, a good book except for size and excessive use of Math in problems). Oh, and if you hear anybody complain about how the book doesn't have many *complete* java programs within it's pages, just look in the CD. In the book, in many places, you will find short clippings from the program. You don't have to wade thru tons of extraneous code while reading the book. Also, if you say that these are "toy examples", then remember that all introductory books will have "toy examples" by definition. You will need books on specialized topics to get into juicy, detailed material. Do yourself a favor and don't try to get bogged down into lugging a book just because it is big.
Rating:
Summary: Great Java overview
Review: I have come to love this author's way of presenting material. I bought the book as a risk intially, when scrolling through the pages at the bookshop didn't show any program snippets. But the book made for the easiest reading of a new language I have come across. The nuances of the language are explained in a very lucid way. Particularly the anecdotes and simple little details and secrets make the author one of my favorite authors. Expert C programming is a great read too.
Rating:
Summary: A must for a professional java programmer
Review: I have read many books on Java, like Complete Reference, Core Java vol 1 and 2, certification guide, a lot of online material, and infact, i m a JCP (81 %) also. I was thinking that i know java 2 (basic language features) quite well but no, dam it, i was quite wrong !!. This book has given a strong jolt to my confidence and proved, that i was over confident. At some points I was astonished at the quality and quantity of details the author has mentioned about the constructs of java language. Infact i have nearly read each and every page of the book and now i think i know java. (certainly i m not over confident this time :)). This book provides in depth knowledge about the Java language (in general), which i think is a must for a professional programmer. Also this book is quite readable and fun to read, as the author has put some good and interesting material at the end of each chapter. After reading this book if u want to learn more about basic language features and basic packages, the only choices left are Java Language Specification and Java Virtual Machine Specification, by the creators of the java technology.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book for learning JUST JAVA!
Review: I originally bought the book mostly because it had a clear example of using JDBC with an access database which i thought i could easily try. I did, it worked, and i used the same example with Microsoft SQL Server. I also like the way it presents examples in a clear and usable manner, and the "light relief" trivia at the end of each chapter gives welcome relief from what is unavoidably, a somewhat dry subject. (There is also a little treasure tidbit about Rolls Royce on the CD-ROM that is highly entertaining). Technically accurate, good examples, and entertaining as well, i have to give it a thumbs up
Rating:
Summary: I've seen better
Review: I purchased this book because of the glowing reviews given by several readers. I didn't feel the author presented material with great clarity, nor did he choose particularly good code examples. He was, however, mildly amusing at times. I had to supplement the book with others, such as Bruce Eckel's 'Thinking In Java'
Rating: 
Summary: A Misleading Introduction !
Review: I was misled by the book's introduction where the author has declared his book for beginners in Java. Most of the topics are covered in a very confusing fashion. This book can niether be used as beginner's learning tool nor a reference for experienced programmers. If you are beginner in Java don't buy this book !
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