Head First Java, 2nd Edition

When you first glance through this book you will notice all of the retro pictures and half jokes. I've never read a Dummys/Idiots book on programming, but I can imagine them having the same look and feel. But then when you dig into the actual content...This book, to me, felt like a good class on Java programming from a great professor who has real world experience - the tone is conversational and the topics selected that make the most real world sense. There are a few large "class projects" that have a very real world feel to them (a networked beatbox anyone?). Important points are pounded home. It is the class but without the text book...The topics covered also seemed to have a "real person" feel as opposed to a textbook feel. I read another popular Java book just before this one. It threw 2 chapters on GUI basics as almost an afterthought, there was no networking, nothing about inner classes, nothing about making distribution packages, etc. In that book the basic ideas were gone over in great depth, greater than here, but these more practical topics were skipped or had the briefest mentioned.With this book you start using Swing just a little more than half way through the book. All the topics in the last paragraph (plus many others) were covered in a practical method.This book, however, isn't perfect. As mentioned above, this book is like a good class on Java programming without the textbook. Sometimes the textbook is needed. When I was in school I always read the textbook no matter how good the prof - it was needed to get the full benefit of the info. I also like having good reference books that I can leaf through when I have an issue. This book is a mediocre, at best, reference book and admits it.It also often gets too cute. OK, sometimes that is needed, but it can get a little... As another reviewer mentioned, this books often seems to be aimed at collage age kids, not professional programmers. Not necessarily a bad thing - I've been out of my 20s longer than I care to admit and I never felt I was too old to be reading it.I would recommend this book if you are just starting off in Java or are rusty and want to pick it back up. I would also recommend getting a more conventional book as foil and as a reference.

I'm a fairly well versed programmer in some of the older style languages like C and C++. If you have some archaic C question, I may be your woman. I'm not so familiar with Java - in fact the last time I touched the language I could run to the local coffee shop, get a coffee, and get back to my program and it would just be starting up (back in the dark days, when java was really slow). Fast forward 12 years and not only is Java nimble and performant, but its something I need to know. Yesterday. Knowing this, I turned to the Head first series as they get their points across quickly and cleanly.Head First really does teach the topics so that you'll remember them. Most into programming books give you an example and you work through it. In Head First, yes there is an example, but the examinations happen via stories, diagrams, pictures, games and really good (bad) humor. What this means is that no matter how you learn, you'll find something that helps the concepts stick. Each chapter builds upon the last and each chapter reinforces lessons from before. You can tell that people who really know how to teach designed these books.Now this book is basic. I personally didn't mind reading about Objects and Object-Oriented design yet again. I also didn't mind reading about polymorphism, encapsulation, et al. The main reason for this is the presentation. Well that and there are a few subtle differences between C++ and Java that they talk about that I need to know. But mostly its the fun way they present the topics. I mean even if you know these topics cold, I still found some of their examples and comparisons well thought out and memorable. So much so in fact that I can see using them to help explain concepts to people I'll mentor or to marketing folks.If, however, you have programmed in Java before and are comfortable in the world of OO, and are looking for something to take you to the next step, I'd suggest you keep moving onto other books (Effective Java by Bloch is amazing). However, if you are new to Java, and even new to programming, you'll love the Head First books. The writing is clear and engaging (and correct!), the examples make sense, and way they tailor lessons to trigger different parts of your learning brain is really well done.