Java How to Program (4th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Simply, AMAZING!!!
Review: This book is simply amazing. I had an incredibly difficult time with the "other" book I used to attempt to learn Java for class. This book absolutely walks all over it. It teaches in a style that I easily grasp. The authors went to great lengths to specify the "why" of each new line of code, and give very detailed explanations of the methodology of programming, along with "good practices" for programming. I recommend this to ANYONE with a desire to learn their first programming language, as well as those who are looking to learn more.

Rating:
Summary: Avoid Deitel books
Review: I learned Java solely from this book. I had learned several languages prior to turning to Java. With the help of this book, I was able to become quite proficient very quickly. It has also served as my only needed reference ever since. The intended audience seems to be the novice or even completely new programmer, so the more experienced folks may need to do a little skimming. In any case, I have and will continue to highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Misguided required reading for CS students
Review: Most people who purchase Deitel books do so because it is the required course material for their CS (pick a number) class. Deitel book are needlessly saturated with filler material that do not justify their extremely high cost. You could easily save your money and learn Java by going through the Sun tutorials which are FREE, not to mention the countless online Java tutorials out there (just do a Google search "Java Tutorials"). Stay away from this book! If you have to buy it, then please save some money by purchasing a used book.

Rating:
Summary: Wordy
Review: This books is extremely wordy. It does not exhaust itself in terms of words. As a beginners book, it's fairly decent, the book assumes that you have little to no java experience. I knew a little bit of java, and therefore reading the book became mundane. The syntax and semantics are well coded, the code is almost "english" like. Very, very readable code examples. My biggest gripe is that Applets are taught in the early chapters. I find that to be antithetical, first learn Java coding and OOP because applets fall under that schema of OOP and a solid foundation will make applets easier. A caveat to beginners, remember that this book is wordy, so better pay attention!