Not a bad book, but misleading...

This is a good book for those that are interested in learning the bytecode structure of the Java Virtual Machine and its class file structure. It comes with a bytecode assembler, called Jasmin. Some reviewers felt that the assembler is completely useless. I liked having it as it helped me to learn and test my knowledge of java bytecode without having to write an interpreter first.

This book is misleading, however, as most books on this subject do a pretty good job of explaining the internals of the Java Virtual Machine. This book does not. If you are looking to understand java bytecode and class file format better, this may be your book. But, if you are looking to get the full explaination of the workings of the Java Virtual Machine (especially if you are trying to write your own), then "Inside the Java Virtual Machine" is a much better book.

Other Reviews

• Very good intro
• Not a bad book, but misleading...
• Good but Dated JVM Tutorial