book recommendations


There are hundreds of Java books. Most range from bad to terrible. Almost all are full of style crime, and few give any help with designing more complex, longer-lived programs. Here are the best ones.
 
General-Purpose

* Java in Practice: Design Styles and Idioms for Effective Java,
Nigel Warren and Philip Bishop, Addison-Wesley, 1999.
[not for beginners, but the gold standard for practicing programmers. except for sometimes weak names, no style crime at all.]
 
* Understanding Object-Oriented Programming with Java,
Timothy Budd, Addison-Wesley, 1998.
[an excellent book for beginners marred by several coding style crimes]
 
* Thinking in Java,
Bruce Eckel, Prentice Hall, 1998.
[too tinged with c++ idioms and concerns to be suitable for beginners, but otherwise an excellent book. probably the overall best book on java.]
 
* The Java Programming Language,
Ken Arnold and James Gosling, second edition, Addison-Wesley, 1998.
[the standard in the field, coauthored by java's inventor, james gosling. far too cryptic for beginners though.]

 
Special-purpose
* Cutting-Edge Java Game Programming,
Neil Bartlett, Steve Simkin, and Chris Stranc, Coriolis Group Books, 1996.
[not only a good book on java, but a good book on games too. the book is old however, so it only covers java 1.0]
 
* Patterns in Java: Volume 1: A Catalog of Reusable Design Patterns Illustrated with UML,
Mark Grand, Wiley, 1998.
[required reading for every serious Java programmer.]
 
* Concurrent Programming in Java: Design Principles and Patterns,
Doug Lea, Addison-Wesley, 1997.
[the definitive book on threads in java]
 
* Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference,
David Flanagan, second edition, O'Reilly 1997.
[the best overall reference for the Java APIs. not recommended for its coding style.]

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