Core Java(TM) 2, Volume II--Advanced Features (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: tops
Review: Like volume I, very thorough and very well done. Example are good, the text is good. Comparisons with other versions and other languages puts Java out there for the reader to grasp. Good job Cay.

Rating:
Summary: Walkthroughs of the core APIs
Review: This is a nice set of walkthroughs on the basic APIs that are just outside of the core Java language presented in the first book. These include threading, Swing, AWT, JDBC, Networking, JavaBeans and JNI. Some of the coverage is more in-depth than in other parts. In particular Swing and AWT are covered richly, while networking and JNI get shorter shrift.

Given that Swing and AWT are not at the core of modern Java development I would have liked to have seen more of this tome sized book spent on threading, JDBC and networking. And it would have been nice to see some serious coverage of EJB. That being said, what is there is well written, has good example code, and effective illustrations.