Head First Java by Bert Bates

[G.]

Does anyone of you read these books: "Head First Java" and "Head First EJB
" by Bert Bates?

Is it worth to buy it? How will you compare it to "Thinking in Java" by B.
Eckel?

G.

 

[beekay]

I purchased "Head First Java" from Amazon based on some positive reviews I
read. Turns out, it is the O'Reilly Press version of the "Dummies..."
series. It's full of collages of cartoons, balloons, popups, jokes, etc.
Problem with these things is that they waste a lot of space. Acres. Pretend
you are taking a computer course taught by Carrot Top. Very little
continuity, and the index stinks. They do have a preliminary section on
pedagogical theory to give some academic cover to their lack of
organization, so you can blame yourself for not liking it instead of the
editorial team. In other words, I didn't care for it. A well-written,
well-organized Java book is much better, to me. To be fair, one difference
between it and the Dummies books is that it maintains a slightly higher
"computer science" level - in other words, like many programming books, they
already expect you to know the subject before you start reading it. So,
maybe this will make you want to buy it? I'm sure there are folks who liked
it out there, so maybe they will give equal time.

beekay

 

[Brandon Blackmoor]

I'm sure there are folks who liked it out there,
so maybe they will give equal time.

I liked Head First Java. It's one of those books that you flip through
and say, "Oh, this is all fluff", but if you actually read it and work
through the practice problems, you can see that it does what it says it
does. It isn't a *reference* book, but it is not meant to be.

bblackmoor
2004-04-02