Mastering Java 2, J2SE 1.4

Rating:
Summary: A great 2nd book for the beginning programmer
Review: I came to Java with some previous limited programming experience, most of which I forgot years ago. You can actually learn everything about Java using available online resources ( Sun's tutorials, mailing list archives, etc ) but I constantly finding myself going to this book when I need to more than the API tells me. Its probably not the best book for someone who's just starting programming. For the complete beginner I'd recommend Sam's Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 days. And since Java is moving on to version 1.5 you can probably get a good deal on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Most useful for learning some specific parts of Java
Review: I have read "Thinking in Java..." by Bruce Eckel and some other Java books and I have found that
this book, "Mastering Java 2 J2SE 1.4", covers same material in a different way, with lot of
diagrams and pictures, wich has helped me to read it with joy. There are some mistakes
in source code, wich I have found on accompanied CD, but I have found easy to rectify it.
I would recommend this book to anybody who already knows some Java and wants to learn some
specific parts of Java, i.e. printing.