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macOS Java Programming Book?

olliea95

olliea95

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 10, 2009
102
0
Surrey, UK
I am looking for a good Java programming book that is good for a Java newcomer, and gives examples and explains them.

I suppose a little bit of background info would be useful. I have been programming for a while now, using many languages although I haven't properly got into any of them. Just the basics, I haven't really taken them further. I started with Visual Basic, which is the only language I can really do anything useful in, and then I did some Python and Ruby but never got into either of them. Next I tried HTML and CSS (some may not consider them programming languages) and I have learnt a great deal from those. But I have decided that I want to learn a proper programming language and actually take it quite a bit past 'Hello World!'.

So I decided to give Java a go. In the past I have read through a Java for Dummies book, but that was old and not very well written. And now I am looking for a better, updated Java Programming book. Does anyone have any recommendations? Not sure whether this matters, but I want to be developing applets (the ones in websites?) instead of apps. I do already know most of the basics (writing the simple applets, compiling them and displaying them in HTML etc.) but I do think that a book which starts at the very start and then works its way further be awesome.

So to outline, does anyone have any personal recommendations of books to help me properly start my quest with Java applets?

Haven't managed to find anyone who can guide me on the best book on any forums, and since I know this one is epic ( :) ), decided to give my question a shot here.

Thanks :cool:
 
Thanks, I'll look into getting that one. Has got some good reviews.

Anyone else got a different opinion?
 
Yeah I have read through the Sun tutorials, but I just can't get accustomed to the way they are written. I also prefer to have an actual hard copy book that I can quickly refer to at a moment of crisis.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
Yeah, after reading through the ToC of the Deitel book it seems like it doesn't cover as much of the basics, but a more wider range of subjects than the O'Reilly book. I will have to have a think of which I would prefer.

Nice one :)
 
If you are just starting, you could try Head First Java (Amazon Link).

Java in a Nutshell is a good book, but I remember it being very concise.

I think I would have to ask why you are looking at Java and applets in particular and why you think it will be different from Ruby or Python, languages you will very likely be more productive in, in a shorter period?

You may of course have good reasons ... just asking (and am surprised nobody else has, yet) and trying to understand what has been missing for you.

I think the Head First books are the about only books that offer something really different.
 
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AlmostThere said:
If you are just starting, you could try Head First Java (Amazon Link).

Java in a Nutshell is a good book, but I remember it being very concise.

I think I would have to ask why you are looking at Java and applets in particular and why you think it will be different from Ruby or Python, languages you will very likely be more productive in, in a shorter period?

You may of course have good reasons ... just asking (and am surprised nobody else has, yet) and trying to understand what has been missing for you.

I think the Head First books are the about only books that offer something really different.
Click to expand...

Well to answer your question, I am going for Java and applets in particular because in the long run I want to be able to create a 3D Java game. I know that this is going to be a *very* long term goal, but hey, you have to have something to aim for :p And also I find the way of writing Java to be more intuitive than Ruby or Python, and so I find it, personally, more productive.

Thanks for the suggestion, will look into it :cool:
 
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Oh yeah forgot about that, thanks. Although one question is where the hell does web start actually save files to? I can't find it anywhere in the docs, and after launching one of the demo apps, I have no idea where it saved to my computer. Don't bother yourself trying to find it, but just incase you know :)

Edit: My bad, I get it now. Thanks.
 
olliea95 said:
Yeah I have read through the Sun tutorials, but I just can't get accustomed to the way they are written. I also prefer to have an actual hard copy book that I can quickly refer to at a moment of crisis.

Thanks for the suggestion though.
Click to expand...

That's where I first started and I have to agree with you, I just didn't like it. So I ended up getting Core Java: http://bit.ly/ceMJvy, and I've found it to be a fantastic help with my studies. Really clear explanations and good examples. I have heard the Java In a Nutshell book is really good as well.

Along with all the online tutorials that are widely available, I think you'd be happy with either the Java In a Nutshell book or the Core Java one.
 
mkmDesign said:
That's where I first started and I have to agree with you, I just didn't like it. So I ended up getting Core Java: http://bit.ly/ceMJvy, and I've found it to be a fantastic help with my studies. Really clear explanations and good examples. I have heard the Java In a Nutshell book is really good as well.

Along with all the online tutorials that are widely available, I think you'd be happy with either the Java In a Nutshell book or the Core Java one.
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not on my own with disliking the Sun tutorials. And that book looks very nice, I'm torn between that one and the Nutshell book. Think I might just go with Core Java as it looks nicer, and that seems to be what I am going to go by.

Will probably end up getting both though, thanks for the input :)
 
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