Sebastopol, CA--O'Reilly & Associates has just released the second edition of "Learning Java," a newly expanded and updated edition of the company's bestselling Learning Java, which, in turn, was an update of "Exploring Java," one of the first and most popular Java references. "Our book has grown and matured along with the language," says coauthor Patrick Niemeyer.
"Learning Java," (US $44.95) provides comprehensive coverage of all Java 1.4 language features and addresses the important topics--such as web applications, servlets, and XML--that are increasingly driving enterprise applications. "Probably the most exciting changes to the 1.4 release of Java that 'Learning Java' covers are regular expressions for handling text, new productivity features like assertions and logging APIs, and the standardization of the suite of XML tools bundled with Java," says Niemeyer.
Java's portability among all major computing platforms and its rigorous security model account for its steady popularity. "Learning Java" gets readers up to speed on both the principles of Java programming and the real-world application of those principles. "My hope is that, through the examples included in "Learning Java," readers will gain good programming habits and inspiration for the future," Niemeyer comments.
Niemeyer has been involved with Java since its creation. "Back in the mid-90's I was invited to the weekly 'beer bust' with the original Java developers in San Francisco," he recounts. "I was given a tour of the facilities by Arthur Van Hoff and Jim Graham. I got to see some of the preliminary 'Duke' character artwork and even peek at the original 'Star 7' portable network device that ran Oak [Java's predecessor]."
In addition to his work as author of "Learning Java," Niemeyer has developed a simple Java scripting language, called BeanShell. He has been integrated BeanShell into the book as a teaching tool.
The CD-ROM that accompanies "Learning Java" includes BeanShell, many example programs from the book, the complete J2SE SDK 1.4, the NetBeans IDE, the Jakarta Project's Ant make utility, and the Tomcat application server.
What the critics said about the earlier editions of "Learning Java":
2001 Java Pro Third Annual Reader's Choice Awards "Best Java Book for Beginners"
"It's simply good quality, comprehensive material. The authors obviously love their topic and show real expertise in using the tools and the language itself...the constant stream of sample applications makes this book an excellent reference guide. Recommended."
--Caryn Mladen, Canada Computes"The book is written in clear language that strikes a good balance; it does not overwhelm readers with technical terminology, but at the same time avoids talking down to its audience."
--Major Kearny, PC Update"An elegant book, dealing with an elegant subject...this is by no means a dull, dry book, but one that seeks to help you and encourage you. I certainly recommend it to anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort in learning Java."
--Nelson Bigelow, Jr., Kennebec Valley Computer Society"Provides a solid grounding for beginners."
--Linux Format"Niemeyer and Peck have written one of the most thorough and systematic introductions to Java...excellent and thorough coverage of Java and serves as a complete reference to developing original applications."
--Richard Hooker, Journal of Academic Librarianship
Additional Resources:
An article by the authors, XML Basics for Java Developers, is available online
Chapter 23, XML, is available free online
More information on Java can be found at ONJava.com
More information about the book, including Table of Contents, index, author bios, and samples
Learning Java, 2nd Edition
By Pat Niemeyer, Jonathan Knudsen
0-596-00285-8, Order Number: 2858
700 pages, $44.95 US $69.95 CA
order@oreilly.com
1-800-998-9938
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