Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop
Quick Reference, 2nd Edition, by David Flanagan, O’Reilly & Assoc.
1997. A compact summary of the online documentation of Java
1.1. Personally, I prefer to browse the docs online,
especially since they change so often. However, many folks still like printed
documentation and this fits the bill; it also provides more discussion than the
online documents.
The Java Class Libraries: An
Annotated Reference, by Patrick Chan and Rosanna Lee, Addison-Wesley 1997.
What the online reference should have been: enough description to make it
usable. One of the technical reviewers for Thinking in Java said,
“If I had only one Java book, this would be it (well, in addition to
yours, of course).” I’m not as thrilled with it as he is. It’s
big, it’s expensive, and the quality of the examples doesn’t satisfy
me. But it’s a place to look when you’re stuck and it seems
to have more depth (and sheer size) than Java in a
Nutshell.
Java Network Programming, by
Elliote Rusty Harold, O’Reilly 1997. I didn’t begin to understand
Java networking until I found this book. I also find his Web site, Café
au Lait, to be a stimulating, opinionated, and up-to-date perspective on Java
developments, unencumbered by allegiances to any vendors. His almost daily
updating keeps up with fast-changing news about Java. See
http://sunsite.unc.edu/javafaq/.
Core Java, 3nd
Edition, by Cornell & Horstmann, Prentice-Hall 1997. A good place to go
for questions you can’t find the answers to in Thinking in Java.
Note: the Java 1.1 revision is Core Java 1.1 Volume 1 –
Fundamentals & Core Java 1.1 Volume 2 – Advanced
Features.
JDBC Database Access with
Java, by Hamilton, Cattell & Fisher (Addison-Wesley, 1997). If you know
nothing about SQL and databases, this is a nice, gentle introduction. It also
contains some of the details as well as an “annotated reference” to
the API (again, what the online reference should have been). The drawback, as
with all books in The Java Series (“The ONLY Books Authorized by
JavaSoft”) is that it’s been whitewashed so that it says only
wonderful things about Java – you won’t find out about any dark
corners in this series.
Java Programming with CORBA
Andreas Vogel & Keith Duddy (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). A serious
treatment of the subject with code examples for the three main Java ORBs
(Visibroker, Orbix, Joe).
Design Patterns, by Gamma,
Helm, Johnson & Vlissides (Addison-Wesley 1995). The seminal book that
started the patterns movement in programming.
UML Tookit, by Hans-Erik
Eriksson & Magnus Penker, (John Wiley & Sons, 1997). Explains UML and
how to use it, and has a case study in Java.
An
accompanying CD-ROM contains the Java
code and a cut-down version of Rational Rose. An excellent introduction to UML
and how to use it to build a real system.
Practical Algorithms for
Programmers, by Binstock & Rex (Addison-Wesley 1995). The algorithms are
in C, so they’re fairly easy to translate into Java. Each algorithm is
thoroughly
explained.