recommended java books

[Jeremy Watts]

hi,

does anyone have any goof recommendations for books aimed at the complete
beginner? so it takes you right from downloading the java environment
through to programming etc, step - by step?

thanks

 

[Andrew Thompson]

does anyone have any goof recommendations for books aimed at the complete
beginner? so it takes you right from downloading the java environment

Books are generally no good for that,
they usually come with either an 'easy-install'
CD that takes care of it all for you (and
installs an old version like 1.3.1) or
they skip over it with something like..

1) Install the Sun SDK (available from http://java.sun.com/)
2) Test your installation with this 'HelloWorld' example..

Another problem is that books cannot provide
instructions for every variant of Java installation.
It varies between Win/OS X/Linux (probably also
for Linux variants)/Solaris..

So. To give you some pointers on installation,
let's do it here, and let's start with you
describing your system/OS.

 

[Andrew Thompson]

..aimed at the complete beginner?

And while I remember, there is an entire *group*
dedicated to helping people who are new to Java.
More details of that, and other fine Java groups, here..
<http://www.physci.org/codes/javafaq.jsp#cljh>

HTH

 

[Chris Uppal]

does anyone have any goof recommendations for books aimed at the complete
beginner? so it takes you right from downloading the java environment
through to programming etc, step - by step?

I take it that 'goof' is a typo for 'good' not 'goofy'...

(And if I'm wrong then I'm sure someone will be happy to make a few goofy
recommendation... Andew ? ;-)

There's a book called:

Objects First with Java
A Practical Introduction using BlueJ

of which you can find a description here:

http://www.bluej.org/objects-first/description.html

Be warned: /I have not read the book/, so I can't actually recommend it (so
maybe this is a bit goofy after all).

So why suggest it ? The reason is that it's based on the BlueJ IDE. BlueJ is
a Java IDE designed from the ground up for use in teaching beginners. I have
looked at BlueJ (and the papers that describe its rationale) and it seems to me
to be very well thought out for its purpose. The approach its designers took
seems to me to show considerable intuition into both what programming is really
about, and into how to teach it. AFAIK, the writers of the book have been
heavily involved in the creation of BlueJ, as well as teaching with it, so I
have hopes that the book is as well-considered as the IDE.

Of course, the book may just be a pile of crap, but I hope not. In any case, I
feel it's worth checking if you can find a copy to browse in your local
bookshop. With luck somebody else here /has/ read it, and can comment more
usefully.

(Incidentally, the BlueJ tool is freely downloadable from the above website,
but the book itself costs money.)

-- chris

 

[Jason Bell]

i) Read the tutorials at http://www.thejavatutorial.com
ii) Download a copy of Bruce Eckel's book, "Thinking In Java" from
http://www.mindview.net

jaseb

 

[Jeremy Watts]

Books are generally no good for that,
they usually come with either an 'easy-install'
CD that takes care of it all for you (and
installs an old version like 1.3.1) or
they skip over it with something like..

1) Install the Sun SDK (available from http://java.sun.com/)
2) Test your installation with this 'HelloWorld' example..

Another problem is that books cannot provide
instructions for every variant of Java installation.
It varies between Win/OS X/Linux (probably also
for Linux variants)/Solaris..

So. To give you some pointers on installation,
let's do it here, and let's start with you
describing your system/OS.

yeah i'm using windows xp. i've been to the sun site but find it extremely
confusing as to what all the jargon means, and what i should be downloading
exactly to suit my o/s

thanks

 

[Andrew Thompson]

(And if I'm wrong then I'm sure someone will be happy to make a few goofy
recommendation... Andew ? ;-)

And ..who?

 

[Andrew Thompson]

yeah i'm using windows xp. i've been to the sun site but find it extremely
confusing as to what all the jargon means, and what i should be downloading
exactly to suit my o/s

(chuckles) I know what you mean.. Sun has
too many products.. They should just trim
it down to the one(, no ..two,no three!)
that *I* need.. ;-)

OK, let's see if I can find *my* way to the
correct one for your system.

1st up, I'd recommend getting the 1.5 release.
1.5 is stil in the first stages, but it will quickly
become the standard, and you can code and compile
suitable for any version back to 1.1.

So.. doing a quick search at sun 'download sdk 1.5'
after a click or two gets me to here..
<http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp>

There is a table with columns on that page..
"Download J2SE 5.0 RC | JRE | JDK "

You need the top listed entry in the table, the
JDK (Java *Development* Kit) link on the right..

An 'Installation Instructions' link
is immediately below.

Open your internet connection real
*wide* and dive in.

BTW - you would be well advised to get the JavaDocs
and the Java Tutorial so you can browse them off-line,
but one step at a time..

HTH

 

[TechBookReport]

Jeremy Watts wrote:




I take it that 'goof' is a typo for 'good' not 'goofy'...

(And if I'm wrong then I'm sure someone will be happy to make a few goofy
recommendation... Andew ? ;-)

There's a book called:

Objects First with Java
A Practical Introduction using BlueJ

of which you can find a description here:

http://www.bluej.org/objects-first/description.html

Be warned: /I have not read the book/, so I can't actually recommend it (so
maybe this is a bit goofy after all).

So why suggest it ? The reason is that it's based on the BlueJ IDE. BlueJ is
a Java IDE designed from the ground up for use in teaching beginners. I have
looked at BlueJ (and the papers that describe its rationale) and it seems to me
to be very well thought out for its purpose. The approach its designers took
seems to me to show considerable intuition into both what programming is really
about, and into how to teach it. AFAIK, the writers of the book have been
heavily involved in the creation of BlueJ, as well as teaching with it, so I
have hopes that the book is as well-considered as the IDE.

Of course, the book may just be a pile of crap, but I hope not. In any case, I
feel it's worth checking if you can find a copy to browse in your local
bookshop. With luck somebody else here /has/ read it, and can comment more
usefully.

(Incidentally, the BlueJ tool is freely downloadable from the above website,
but the book itself costs money.)

-- chris

I've read the BlueJ book, it's pretty good. Also recommended is 'Head
First Java'. Both are reviewed on TechBookReport
(http://www.techbookreport.com/JavaIndex.html).

Pan

 

[Yakov]

hi,

does anyone have any goof recommendations for books aimed at the complete
beginner? so it takes you right from downloading the java environment
through to programming etc, step - by step?

thanks

Before buying any books, try to read my online Java lessons starting from this one:

http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=37902

It starts with downloading and installing Java

Regards,
Yakov Fain

 

[IchBin]

Before buying any books, try to read my online Java lessons starting from this one:

http://www.sys-con.com/story/?storyid=37902

It starts with downloading and installing Java

Regards,
Yakov Fain

I would second that..

Also you can look at "The Really Big Index, A list of all content pages
in the The JavaTM Tutorial" at
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/reallybigindex.html

Also, instead of using some of the major java IDE's. Look at this one
called: jGRASP at: http://www.jgrasp.org/

This will provide you all you need as a beginner and not confuse you.. I
kinda of like it and wish I had one like this when I started java or
c/c++ programming. It even does class uml's.

Oh, it's free.

_________________________________________________________________________
About jGRASP jGRASP version 1.7.1 Beta 3.
Built on August 19, 2004.
Copyright 1999-2004 Auburn University
Website: http://www.jgrasp.org
Project Director: James H. Cross II, Ph.D. Computer Science and
Software Engineering 107 Dunstan Hall Auburn University, Alabama
36849 graspATengDOTauburnDOTedu
Chief Programmer: Larry A. Barowski
Empirical Evaluation: Dr. Dean Hendrix
Wireless Software: Dr. David Umphress


Thanks in Advance...
IchBin
__________________________________________________________________________

'Black holes are where God divided by zero.'
-Steven Wright, comedian (1955- )