Updates
Latest Tweet
What's New?
Check out for latest innovation, a computer based training video collection
Like this Page
Special Edition Using Java 2, Standard Edition (Special Edition Using...) Review by anonymous
Too dense with no conceptual flow
This book has good breadth, but fundamentally fails to help the reader understand Java.
I am a Java trainer, and have used many books and training material. I recently chose this book for a class because of its breadth. Unfortunately, I had to write a lot of supplemental information to make up for the book's lack of clarity and structure.
A book should simplify key concepts by highlighting key points, using diagrams, etc. This book doesn't do that. It's like a brain dump, where the authors talk and talk about a given topic, but in a way that lacks structure. There is no flow or progression of concepts.
The book also has poor layout. Books should be designed with an eye toward ease of reading. Are key points highlighted? Are diagrams effective? If you're in a bookstore open the book to a random page. Are the highlighted sections important? Is the conceptual outline of the page apparent? For me, the answer is no.
Here's one of the highlighted paragraphs I've chosen at random:
"The ability to specify indexes when working with a List places an additional burden on you as a programmer. You must always ensure that any index you pass to a List method is greater than or equal to zero, and less than or equal to the size of the collection minus one. Each List method that accpets an indx throws an IndexOutOfBoundsException at runtime when this is not the case."Rather than highlighting this key point with this dense paragraph, the author could have provided a simple diagram and an example. The reader would have understood the point immediately, rather than having to read and re-read a prose explaination.
Diagrams are similarly poor. There are a few diagrams, but they are not effective at communicating concepts. It's as if an editor said "we need a diagram" so someone whipped one out, whether or not it was effective.
In summary, this book has good breadth but is poor at helping the reader understand Java.