Head First Java

by Bert Bates and Kathy Sierra

Book Overview

What will you learn from this book? Head First Java is a complete learning experience in Java and object-oriented programming. With this book, you'll learn the Java language with a unique method that... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596009208
• ISBN13: 9780596009205
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 688 Pages
• Weight: 2.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book! Best for Java and OOP as far as I know!

Still relevant even after Java 13 came out...incredible.....easy to follow and enables us to understand complex concepts that no other Java book does!

My all-time favorite tutorial on Java (or anything else)

In all my years of reading technical books trying to learn new skills, the closest I have ever come to a book like this was when I first read a Dummies book. I liked it because it presented information in a humorous fashion that made things easy to comprehend. This style takes that type of learning to a whole new level. Using a combination of writing style, graphics, illustrations, and sample code, they draw you into each subject in such a way that you can't help but learn and understand. This book starts with the basics of Java and progresses clear through to RMI and JINI. Granted, those last subjects are just touched on, but at least you're exposed to them. Even after all the Java tutorial manuals I've read, I still got a lot out of this book. For instance, I always was sort of fuzzy on the event listener logic. The Head First explanation was one of the most understandable (and entertaining) treatments of it that I've ever read. Likewise, inner classes were always confusing to me. The coverage of that subject here makes it sound so simple.And why do you need this if you're a Notes/Domino developer? If you've never worked with Java, you're probably intimidated by the subject and afraid to get started. Don't be... This is the most fun you'll ever have learning a new skill. While it doesn't talk specifically about how to code a Java agent in a Notes application, you'll learn the concepts and the syntax you'll need to be able to do that. Once you have those skills in place, you can move on to a book specific to using Java in a Notes environment (such as Domino Development With Java by Tony Patton). The book doesn't assume you're a programming guru to get started. You will learn a lot from this material, and it's something you need to do in order to continue to stay relevant in the IBM/Lotus world.ConclusionIf you're a C/C++ guru approaching Java, this book may not be for you. You'll already know much of the material from your exposure to those languages. But if you're a mere mortal like the rest of us, you need to buy this book if you're looking to learn Java. I am SO hoping that the Head First approach to tech writing becomes a series. If it does, I'm ruined for life in what I will expect from a book. This is really great stuff!

An Amazing Achievment

Who do Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates think they are? Don't they know that learning a programming language is supposed to be hard? Don't they know that it is supposed to involve suffering? Apparently not, as they have written a complete introduction to Java that is fun to read and easy to understand. If we don't stamp this out now, students will start expecting their teachers to be entertaining!The book is an excellent introduction to Java. It covers all the typical topics of a basic introductory text and some extra including serialization, networking, and distributed computing. Each topic is covered in a fun way with important information highlighted. The authors use stories, fake interviews, pictures, and assorted other clever techniques to catch your imagination and make the topics memorable. There are plenty of exercises (with answers) to help you check to be sure you understood each chapter. And there are plenty of fun programs to code including a cool music machine instead of the typical "reverse a String" exercises. If you are looking for a traditional text then this book is definitely not for you. Instructors should think carefully whether this book fits in with their style of teaching. This book is not for everyone but if you want to learn Java and object oriented programming in fun and unique way then this is the book you want. Now I just have to figure out how to keep it away from my students.

Makes other books look like the API

In short, it's a great book. It will make all your other Java booksindistinguishable from a printed copy of the API. This is how toactually understand Java. I kept yelling "So THAT's how it works!" atleast once a chapter. It's really amazing how much I realized I didn'tknow. Well, didn't understand. I knew stuff and could do the rightsyntax and all that but now I think I really get Java a lot more. Inparticular OO and polymorphism which, let's face it, are the kind ofthing that seem simple at first but are slippery to really get ahold of.The exercises are excellent. I think I could learn more from just theHead First exercises than from the other books on Java I've bought,combined. When you buy this, do them all at least once.I want to point out one particular thing they do with the weirderconcepts. They'll introduce and explain a topic, and then you go to thenext page and there's a picture of someone going "Huh???" And the textwill say yeah, this is a weird concept, and start again and explain it adifferent way. And then clarify it again. By then you really dounderstand it. I think this is great because it acknowledges that someof these concepts are just hard to learn. No matter how brilliant you are orwhether you're the love child of Bill Joy and Carly Fiorina.You absolutely must have this book if you want to learn Java, and youabsolutely must have this book if you've been programming for a coupleyears but you have to admit deep down you're still a little fuzzy on ahow things really work.

A different kind of Java book for beginners and experts

When I first saw "Head First Java", it reminds me of the colorful "conversational English" books I had when I started to learn English years ago. The casual, humorous books have turned out effective for English language learning. Is that style good for the Java language learners as well? Is this type of books for beginners only?With those questions in mind, I started to read "Head First Java". Since I consider myself a Java expert (I wrote a Java book myself, after all), I decided that I would NOT read the book from cover to cover. Instead, I would randomly flip through the book for the humorous stories and photos. I figured that if I cannot learn much new about Java from a "beginner" book, I can at least have some fun.Geez, I was wrong. I was ADDICTED to the book's short stories, annotated code snippets, mock interviews, puzzle games and brain exercises. They are not only entertaining but also informative. It may be a beginner's book but the stuff they cover are definitely deep enough for expert readers as well (e.g. multiple inheritance, polymorphism, inner classes, threads, RMI, ... just to name a few). The best of all is that I can actually remember the things I learned from the book because I associate them with the stories and pictures. I guess it has something to do with the fact that both sides of my brain are active when reading this book: The right side is for the stories and the left side is for the technical and logic stuff.There are other great Java books (e.g. "Thinking in Java" by Bruce Eckel) in the market. But they are all very serious and require the readers to spend hours to read entire chapters. The great thing about "Head First Java" is that the bite-size code snippets and stories allow me to learn something about Java in my 5-10 minutes spare time, one piece a time.The overall writing style is casual and enlightened. The presentation style (fonts and placements of graphical elements) fits the content very well. The book covers a wide variety of Java topics including: basic code structure and language syntax, OOP concepts, math and numbers, exception handling, the Swing GUI library, serialization, network, and distributed computing.Of course, the casual style is not for everyone. I know people who love the re-assuring feeling from "serious" books. But I can re-assure you that Kathy and Bert are authoritative figures in the Java training community. The content is absolutely first class. I highly recommend "Head First Java" for both Java beginners and expert readers.

Who said learning could not be fun.

I had the pleasure of reading Head First Java as Kathy & Bert turned out the chapters. Though the book has not hit the stores yet, I'd like to share my experience reading the work copy of the book.I'm a 47 year old programmer that has basically seen it all in my 25+ years in IT. Though I've been busy with Java for more than 2 years, I until recently still saw myself as an absolute beginner. Why you might ask? Well for starters all my Java was simply "hobby" work, I did not use it at work. Secondly, and the most important reason, is that I simply did not understand and grasp some of the key concepts of OO that one needs to know to be able to fully use the capabilities Java has to offer.As fate would have it, the work copy Kathy & Bert's book became available to me as I started to work in a new department where I have to program in Java. I was drowning. I had to keep on asking the youngsters on the team for assistance. You can't believe what that does for your self-confidence. But as I read more and more of Head First Java I found myself sitting in tech meetings not only understanding what was being said but I was actually coming up with some fresh ideas that helped us re-design our systems to become fully OO.Why is that so. Simply because of the unique way Kathy and Bert teach and share their knowledge. The best way for me to describe this book is by using the teacher at school that we all have encountered in our school careers. You know the one that enthusiastically drew the most elaborate drawing on the black board to explain his point, the one that simply generates interest in his subject purely because of his sheer love of the subject he teaches. Now imagine that teacher in book form. The Head First way, your favourite teacher in a book.I can carry on for quite awhile about the unique style of the Head First way, but I suggest you download the sample chapters at O'Reilly or go download the "demo" at Kathy & Bert's own site...What has this book done for me. For one it finally made me grasp Polymorphism, and the use of interfaces. Though I've used it before, like a parrot without understanding, I never saw it's real strength. Now I use it all the time. I can't believe I programmed Java without them. Head First Java turned me into a Java OO programmer instead of a Java procedural programmer. Yep one can write pretty neat procedural programs in Java.If you are a Java programmer that has problems understanding the finer points of the language and OO in general I suggest you go out and buy the book.I want to end with a word of caution. This book, because of it's uniqueness, might not appeal to everybody. I suggest you browse (or download the demo) the book before buying. You will know immediately know if the book is for you.If you want learning to be fun buy this book.