It has taken four years, but with Head First Java the introductory Java book category has finally come of age. This is an excellent book, far more capable than any of the scores of Java-for-novices books that have come before it. Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates deserve rich kudos–and big sales–for developing this book’s new way of teaching the Java programming language, because any reader with even a little bit of discipline will come away with true understanding of how the language works. Perhaps best of all, this is no protracted “Hello, World” introductory guide. Readers get substantial exposure to object-oriented design and implementation, serialization, neatwork programming, threads, and Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
Key to the authors’ teaching style are carefully designed graphics. Rather than explain class inheritance (to cite one example) primarily with text, the authors use a series of tree diagrams that clarify the mechanism far more succinctly. The diagrams are carefully annotated with arrows and notes. Also characteristic of the unique teaching strategy is heavy reliance on exercises, in which the reader is asked to complete partial classes, write whole new code segments and do design work. Though there’s little discussion of why the exercises’ correct answers are what they are, it’s clear that the practice work was carefully designed to reinforce the lesson at hand. If you’ve waited this long to give Java a try, this book is a great choice. –David Wall
Topics covered: The Java programming language for people with no Java experience, and even people with no programming experience at all. Key concepts read like a list of Java features: Object oriented design, variable type and scope, object properties and methods, inheritance and polymorphism, exceptions, graphical user interfaces (GUIs), network connectivity, Java archives (JAR files), and Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars Not bad for a text book
Hard to make learning Java fun but they do try. It is a fairly easy read with lots of pictures and alternative ways of getting the same point accross. Not a reference book on Java, it will teach you Java.
5 Stars A great refresher
It has been quite a while since I did any serious programming, particularly in Java. This book served as a great refresher, and was an easy read. The authors’ premise that by adding pictures, jokes and puzzles help to hold the reader’s attention was true for me.
Given the format, I thought that the book did a great job of covering the basics of programming in Java, including threads, IO and even some Swing.
I’ll buy more books in this series.
5 Stars Best Java book on the Market….
This book is the most user friendly book to teach Java. This is how I got started, and am now a full-on software developer for a fortune-500 company making a good living. I recommend this and other books in the HF series to anyone wanting to learn programming on their own.
4 Stars Nice for Beginners
Let me start by saying that I had no experience when it came to writing any sort of code before I got this book.
This book’s graphical approach appealed to me and indeed helped a lot. I’m still no where near finished with it but so far it has been very useful. I wish it had suggested some IDE’s to help me get started like Eclipse or NetBeans but I knew some programmers who could help me out.
In terms of general knowledge of java and its uses this book does an outstanding job. I enjoy the humor and the examples in this book as well. It’s not the best book if you want to know comprehensive java but it isn’t made for that. It only got 4 stars because I don’t feel like a text book needs a rave review.
4 Stars Good intro to Java — mediocre for Head First
I’ll admit it… I’m a huge fan of the Head First series. This is the third I own and at least two others (currently unreleased) are on my to-buy list just waiting for their release. The style of Head First books in general is fantastic and helps things make sense right away. That being said, I was a bit disappointed in certain aspects of Head First Java. Make no mistake, I still heartily recommend it, but it was not as good as it could have been.
Frankly, the only specific identifiable element that I disliked was the crossword puzzles. Now, I LOVE the crossword puzzles in other Head First books. In fact, they’re one of my favorite elements in the Head First equation. However, the crosswords in Head First Java were lacking, often with strange “hints” that were more confusing than helping. Examples: “can’t pin it down”, “dept. of LAN jockeys”, and “Pi house”.
Additionally, the overall feel of the book was inferior to the previous two I’ve read (Head First C# and Head First SQL). Unfortunately, I can’t articulate exactly what the difference is, but it just wasn’t as engrossing as the others.
In the end, I do recommend the book. It is a fine-quality product. However, do not use this as a prime example of the Head First series — it is not their best.
