Java in a Nutshell 2e (Java S.) - Softcover

Flanagan, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156592262X ISBN 13: 9781565922624

Publisher: O′Reilly, 1997

Synopsis

Updated to cover Version 1.1 of the Java Development Kit (JDK), this quick-reference guide to Java contains descriptions of all of the classes in the Java Core API, with a listing of all methods and variables. The cross-reference indices provide access to all of the details of the JDK 1.1 API. The book also describes the syntax of the Java language.

About this title

Review

The 3rd edition of the well-known reference Java In a Nutshell covers the essential APIs of Java 1.2, including networking, security, input and output, and basic language and utility classes. Due to the size of the Java 1.2 API, graphics and graphical user interface classes are now examined in a volume called Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell and server-side and enterprise programming are detailed in Java Enterprise in a Nutshell.

Though primarily a reference, the book starts off with a thorough, fast-paced introduction to Java, exploring all the key topics including syntax, Object-Oriented programming, security, beans and tools. These discussions are brief and very information-dense but if you are buying this book to learn the language, you will probably be overwhelmed by the speed of this initiation.

This book intends to document quite a bit of Java and it easily succeeds with broad coverage of Java programming in Part I and API cataloguing broken down by package in Part II. For example, discussions in Part I explain types, reflection, and dynamic loading. The handling of these topics takes a little over a page but the book gives a useful overview with code examples that clearly illustrate the points made. It is one of the clearest and most concise treatments of these three topics available.

The chapters in Part II include an introduction, diagrams, and sections for each class in the package. The sections for each class can be very informative, as in the discussion of the Socket class in the java.net chapter, which includes how to instantiate a Socket object, getting I/Ostreams from the object you instantiated, and how to alter the behaviour of sockets. This discussion, like most in this book, is brief, clear and to the point.

If you are looking for a Java reference, this is a solid volume that will provide lasting value. --John Keogh

Topics covered: Part I, Introducing Java, provides broad coverage of Java programming topics, including: data types, syntax, classes and objects, Java file structure, inner classes, interfaces, packages, creating and initialising objects, destroying and finalising objects, input/output, cryptography, networking, security, threads, Java Beans, Java Doc and tools that come with Java 1.2 SDK.

Part II, the Java API Quick Reference, includes chapters on the following Java packages: java.beans, java.beans.beancontext, java.io, java.lang, java.lang.ref, java.lang.reflect, java.math, java.net, java.security, java.security.acl, java.security.cert, java.security.interfaces, java.security.spec, java.text, java.util, java.util.jar, java.util.zip, javax.crypto, javax.crypto.interfaces, javax.crypto.spec and a final chapter which provides an index for classes, methods and fields.

About the Author

David Flanagan is a consulting computer programmer, user interface designer, and trainer. His other books with O'Reilly & Associates include JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, Netscape IFC in a Nutshell, X Toolkit Intrinsics Reference Manual, and Motif Tools: Streamlined GUI Design and Programming with the Xmt Library. David has a degree in computer science and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Edition details

• Publisher: O′Reilly
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 156592262X
• ISBN 13: 9781565922624
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 628