Java in a Nutshell (Nutshell Handbook)

Rating:
Summary: A must-have book for the Java programmer.
Review: "Java in a Nutshell" is concise and surprisingly complete.As a tutorial, it works well for the experienced programmer,because it goes directly to the point: for example, it doesn't spend pages on the primitive data types. Novice programmers will probably prefer more expository material. The book favors the "look at the code to see how to do this" approach rather than lengthy explanations; fortunately, the code is clear enough so that the approach actually works.

What makes this book a "must have" is the complete list of API methods. Explanation is unfortunately minimal (or the book would be much longer!), but there is enough that the user can, with some experimentation, use the built-in classes. This is a perfect "Nutshell" book: if you don't need lengthy explanations, this packs a small Java library into one inexpensive volume.

Rating:
Summary: A good tutorial and reference for intermediate programmers.
Review: Java in a Nutshell provides a good introduction to Java in its first few chapters. This is oriented towards C/C++programmers, but doesn't assume much knowledge. It explains all major Java concepts. The rest of the book is an excellent reference. It is not as comprehensive as the API reference, but it is excellent for a desktop quick reference. As an example, they have the full API, with a short description of each class, along with a list of all the methods. It includes chapters on Unicode and Java-related HTML, among others. An excellent book I am glad to own.

Rating:
Summary: A good reference for those already experienced in Java
Review: Much like "Webmaster in a Nutshell", this book is a reference and should not be bought as a learning tool. Perhaps if you have spent years in C, this would provide a quick evaluation of the similarities and differences between the two. Otherwise, the first few chapters are an inadequate introduction to the language. In short, this is the book to get when you want to reference something you have already learned, not the place to begin learning it. That said, you might find it worthwhile to check out ORA's more in-depth volumes detailing specific aspects of the language(threads, , AWT, etc...).