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Rating: 
Summary: 1.5 for java developers
Review: "Java 1.5 Tiger - A Developer's Notebook" has all the information and quality we have come to expect from O'Reilly. However, the developer's notebook series has a very different style than the animal books. The book was a true page-turner and I read all 171 pages in two days.
This book really looks like a notebook complete with notes in the margins, graph paper and coffee cup stains! There is also plenty of room in the margins for the reader to add notes. This book is informative, useful and looks really cool!
A guru narrates the book. He tells you about Java 1.5 and answers your questions. Each chapter discusses several labs in a task/how to I do that?/what about ... format. It is like the author walks you through doing the labs. It really does read like a conversation. As the authors put it - "All lab, no lecture."
The code examples begin on page two and are prevalent throughout the book. The authors give warnings about common pitfalls and tasks that you cannot do - just like you would expect a guru to do. The authors also give opinions and recommendations.
The book assumes a working knowledge of java 1.4 (or earlier.) This is especially important in the conncurrency section. There is excellent cross-referencing so the chapters and tasks can be read in almost any order. This was an amazing book!
Rating:
Summary: Specific to the new features of 1.5
Review: For what it is this book is focused and great. So it's important to understand what this book is and who it's for. This is not, with it's thin 170 page frame, a book that covers all of the Java language syntax. It is very specific to the features of 1.5. It covers generics, autoboxing, enums, varargs, and more. All of the new features added to make Java compete with C# are covered here in a terse and aggressive form. This book is for people who know Java well and want to learn more about 1.5.
I recommend this book for Java professionals and architects who understand the new features conceptually but want details on how they work directly in the code. This is not a book for someone who just wants to start with Java. For that I recommend O'Reilly's Learning Java or Java in a Nutshell.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview of new features in easy to read style
Review: Having read this book I'm itching to use the new features in Tiger. I found it well written, with generally clear examples, and a lot of information in a short book. It's not the definitive reference to Java 1.5, but then I probably wouldn't have made it all the way through if it was.
The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that there were a few cases where I would have liked some more information about using the new features in an Enterprise system. In particular there are these two points that I'm still looking for answers to:
1) When discussing Enums there's no discussion of using them Remotely (via RMI). Can emums still be compared using == if they have come from a remote client? If not, can the new form of switch be used?
2) Comparison of the new Formatter to MessageFormat. In particular the performance of the new Formatter (because MessageFormat is slow).
Perhaps I need to write myself some tests, because I was frustrated that I couldn't find the answers to these questions on the web.
Another thing that I think could have been covered is the JVM changes introduced in 1.5 - the implications of class data sharing between virtual machines and the changes to garbage collection. Admittedly not as interesting as the language changes, but if you're going to use the new features you're going to have to use the new JVM.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great book in a new O'Reilly series...
Review: I got my first experience with a new O'Reilly series... The Developer's Notebook. This notebook is the Java 1.5 Tiger Developer's Notebook by Brett McLaughlin and David Flanagan. This is a great book and a nice concept sure to become a favorite with developers.
The chapter breakdown: What's New?; Generics; Enumerated Types; Autoboxing and Unboxing; varargs; Annotations; The for/in Statement; Static Imports; Formatting; Threading; Index
As you can see, this is not a Java tutorial or a broad overview of the Java language. It is a practical focus on the new features in Java 1.5 (codenamed Tiger), and it skips the fluff and takes you right into hands-on stuff. The concept of a "developer's notebook" is that it's a place to record observations and take notes. It goes to the meat of the subject. The book is printed on paper that has a graphed background, and there are "handwritten" notes in the margin to point out additional facts. Conversational in tone, you are walked through how each of the new features work as well as what you would use them for. Each chapter has a number of "How do I do that?", "What just happened?", and "What about..." paragraphs that quickly guide you into understanding each new feature.
For instance, the for/in language feature is covered nicely. The authors show you how it is a nice replacement for the Iterator class. But rather than stop there, they tell you what the pros and cons of the feature are.... When you'd want to use it instead of an Iterator, and when an Iterator is the only way to get what you're looking for.
I liked this book a lot. I'm looking forward to more books in the Developer's Notebook series. It might end up being the best series for getting into a subject quickly without wading through a lot of fluff or hard-to-follow jargon.
Rating:
Summary: Quick learning about 1.5
Review: Java 1.5 has started to emerge into general usage. But most of us Java programmers are still safely ensconced in 1.4. Not a few are undoubtedly wondering what the big deal is about 1.5. If you're like me, you are probably quite satisfied with 1.4.Well this book quickly attempts to change that opinion. It hits all the new stuff, with simple descriptions and example code. Like autoboxing. Nothing deep about this, to say the least. But it really eliminates a lot of visual clutter in your source code, when you have to go between a primitive and its wrapper type. It is the analog of how you can do (eg) System.out.println(' t='+t+' d='+d); where t and d can be any primitive types, and the jvm figures out the printing for you. You don't have to specifically describe the output format for each type, as you have to in C. The wonder about autoboxing (and its inverse) is that it was not introduced way earlier. Well, anyway, you have it now. Long time C programmers will also welcome varargs, which are variable argument lists. Ever since Java came out in 1996, many asked for this ability. This push has gone on for years. Finally, they scored and we have varargs. Other 1.5 changes are covered. But the above should be enough to give you a flavour of what the book offers.
Rating:
Summary: Just enough information
Review: Java 1.5 Tiger Developer's Notebook is a great introduction to the new features of Java 1.5 (aka Tiger). It has numerous smallish examples and a conversational tone (almost too conversational at times). It covers all the major additions to the language. Possibly the only thing missing was a discussion of the reason for the "syntactic sugar" that spawned these new features.
Regardless of whether you are a fan of Java 1.5's new features, you'll find this Notebook to be a great guide.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating but flawed
Review: The foreword to this new O'Reilly series explains that a "Developer's Notebook" is the raw scribbling of an "Alpha Geek" as he or she examines some exciting new technology. That pretty much describes "Java 1.5 Tiger." It's raw, it's scribbling, and it's exciting nonetheless.
At a slim 177 pages, this is one of the shorter general Java books you're ever likely to see. There isn't a lot of fat between these covers. Over the faint blue graph-paper lines and the cute faux coffee stains, the concise text covers just the biggest new features in JDK 1.5: generics, varargs, autoboxing, annotations, printf, enumerations. Many of the plentiful code examples are sensible and give you a realistic idea of how to use a feature. Some of them, unfortunately, are rather contrived and don't make much sense.
My main brickbat for "Java 1.5 Tiger" is the very high incidence of typos, more in the text than in the code. Raw scribbling is one thing, but accuracy is important, too; a programming book demands it. My main bouquet is that I learned a lot from reading it, and honestly, you can't do much better than that.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Programmer's brief
Review: This book has a unique layout and presentation. It's not a comic book type new wave layout you see in text books today but a notebook that's straight to the point. The book is only for the experienced Java programmer that puts together all the new language changes. Instead of reading all those articles on new Java 1.5 features, just read this single source collection. It's a fast read detailing the language changes, how to use it, and why in a very orderly manner. Only the last chapter was out of place that covers changes in Thread programming which is not exactly Java language change but it was interesting to know for follow-up. Many speak of the new Java features of printf, autoboxing, etc., but there is a lot more and some subtle changes that you need to know. This book covers everything.
Rating:
Summary: Clear, no BS presentation of the new C++ in Java ;)
Review: This notebook series is a very good aid for the experienced developer who wants to play with some new feauture in the company of an even more experienced fellow who has done most of the research for him. Stay far from this one if you need to learn Java from scratch. (Go for one of the many excellent intro books by Ivor Horton or Cay Horstmann). Not surprisingly this book is one of the best in the series, being mostly the effort of Brett McLaughlin who, besides being a talented coder and writer is also the man behind the O'Reilly "developer notebook idea". In about 150 pages you will get plenty of working examples and clear, concise explanations on the new features of "Tiger": generics (templates), varargs, annotations, autoboxing etc .. If you are a serious Java developer you cannot miss on these new features, and have no excuse for doing it since now you can bridge this gap with just a few hours of reading on a train. And if you are an old school C coder who grudgingly had to pass to Java for "marketing reasons".. I have great news for you.. believe it or not, we got printf back! ;)
Rating:
Summary: The best, for now
Review: Who: You. You already know Java. In fact, you silently snicker at most people who say they "really know Java," because they don't - not like you do.
Why: Java 1.5 is really different. Not just enums and boxing/unboxing, it has type-safe varargs (who'd've thunk it!), last-chance handlers for threads, the most comprehensive generic mechanism I'm seen, and more. You need to know what's new, and how to use it, and fast.
What: This book. It won't help the Java newbie. It's just the new features, spelled out in detail. Better yet, they're spelled out in code samples. This doesn't so much tell you what's new, it shows you.
Where: Here. Until the next generation of Java books hits the shelves, your alternatives are this and the language spec. Believe me, you don't want the language spec.
When: Now. This book will probably look old fast, once the more polished, friendly, and tutorial texts come out. It's a great quick-start on the new technology, though, and (see "who" above) you can't wait.
I hope O'Reilly keeps coming out with new titles in this series. I give it five stars now, but probably two a year from now. As I said, though, this book is for !right!now! and does a great job of what it does.
//wiredweird
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