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Rating: 
Summary: Skimps on too many areas
Review: Easy to read and covering many areas of JNI usage. However, when one settles to write an application in earnest, the book starts feeling superficial. The reference is meager on the Sun web page and not enhanced in the book. For instance, here's a typical argument explanation: "clazz: a Java class object". No indication as to what the usage really is, just a statement of what type it is. This sort of treatment is unfortunately typical. Memory management is barely touched, and many areas are not covered. I expect to be told if a particular method manages memory or not, so I can take adequate care in my application. I expected a detailed discussion on how Java and corresponding C/C++ buffers are managed in general; How to navigate through objects to data that may not be directly available from the calling object; How to access Java static functions, like the utility libraries from native code (or a discussion why not). etc... Examples are provided and thoroughly explained in the "Guide" part of the book, but are by no means a comprehensive coverage of the usage and features of JNI. I rate it 3 stars -- a good introduction, but not a workhorse desk reference. Good to borrow and read through to see how JNI works, but one needs more substantial information to trully write JNI code as part of an application.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book on JNI
Review: I thought this was a decent book on JNI. One reader rated the book one star because it required knowledge of C/C++. However, since the whole point of JNI is to make calls to native objects written in C++, getting upset that the whole book isn't only about Java seems kind of odd. I think the reader was also mad that he had to buy another book to learn C/C++. To me, the title was quite clear concerning the contents of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn JNI. If you want to learn C or C++, buy a different book since that's not what this one's about.
Rating: 
Summary: A solid JNI book
Review: JNI is not for the meek, and if you plan on using it, you will spend way to much time unless you have a book like this to clarify issues. The author tries to cover very diverse applications of JNI such as serial I/O, legacy C structure mapping issues, and running a Java program from an NT Service. Strategies such as how to design better JNI code are covered (although not as much as I would have liked). For example, keeping Java and C++ objects in sync via a mirrored approach. As with other technologies, JNI seems easy to those who feel comfortable with C++ UNTIL they have to write a non-trivial JNI application with a deadline. Although, this book does not answer all your questions, such as performance issues, and indepth user allocated memory management concerns, it does give you enough detail and coverage to make its stance as a solid JNI Handbook.
Rating:
Summary: Solid JNI Coverage
Review: No-nonsense, short & sweet, here's how to do JNI. I've seen many many technical books of this sort fall short of the mark, and this isn't one of them. The book is organized by functional topic, which is *really* handy when you're neck-deep in C++ and Java. Hilites include: setting object fields and invoking object methods, working between C++ and Java types; creating and using objects; working with (or in spite of) the garbage collector; using Java exceptions in native code; working with Java strings; object and class introspection; and embedding the JVM inside of a C++ application. Having moderate experience as a Java programmer and an extensive background in C++, I was up to speed and gunning through native method implementations in an afternoon. My primary development platform is win32, and in spite of what the editorial review says, I found every page of this book helpful.
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