Absolute Java with Student Resource Disk (2nd Edition) (Savitch Series)

With the second edition of Absolute Java, best-selling author Walt Savitch offers a comprehensive introduction of the java programming language.  This book gives programmers the tools to master the Java language.  He takes full advantage of the new Java 5.0 features and incorporates the new Scanner class. There is comprehensive coverage of generic types, including how to define classes with type parameters, collection classes done as generic classes, and linked lists done with type parameters.

User review
Excellent introductory course companion
I am currently taking an intro to object oriented programming class and this book has been a great supplement with its straight explanations and in depth examples. The book does not come across as terribly boring, and moves at a relatively quick pace. The book covers solid fundamentals, and I'd recommend it to anybody looking to get a good feel for some basic, yet comprehensive Java.

User review
One of the best textbooks I've used
Straightforward, and easy to understand, not tedious. This book is extremely good. My instructor isn't the best, so I end up reading through the book a lot, and have come to really appreciate it.

Important concepts are hit upon from several different angles to really drive points home (but not tediously and repetitive), code examples are very good, lots of tips, and warnings of frequent mistakes. I can go through a chapter in a couple of hours, this semester I've gone through a thousand pages in this book, but it doesn't feel like I spent more effort on this course than others, I have learned so much from it.

Also, if you want to skip ahead, he will tell you what sections you need to know before beginning a chapter, so you can hit some relevant topic without reading every chapter prior to it.

Effective use of formatting and white space, clear headings that really help to find and organize the information, chapters are nice and manageable. Important parts of the code examples are highlighted so that you don't have to read the entire piece of code to get the relevant information, but if you want to see how the piece fits into a working program, the entire code is there to be referenced. It helps you to be able to just look the code quickly if thats all you need, or really sit down and give it a thorough run through to see how it works in the program.

I wish all my textbooks were like this, I advocate it to everyone interested in Java.

User review
THE BEST OF THE BEST
It is BY FAR the best book on programming that I have read. I tried Java for Dummies, learning online, also the Java tutorials from Sun and they were a waste of time or money or both.

There are several reasons that make me love this book and the way this author teaches:

1. I read most of this book in seven weeks. After that, I took a second course on programming and I did great on my class.

2. The exercises are well designed to learn. Some are challenging but all go right to the core of what you learned on each chapter.

3. It covers the basics and even some advanced topics that I have encountered in following programming courses.

4. The explanations are crystal clear. It is hard to be left with doubts.

5. The organization is perfect. It builds a core and then it adds more to the core. After five chapters you can move on many different directions depending on your needs and the book will still make sense.

6. The code is transparent and clarifications on the margins do help.

7. It is up to date with the latest Java release.

In all honesty this book does not have a weak spot. BUY IT!!!

hernanM

User review
Better book thatn Deitel's JAVA textbook
I have read both books by Savitch and Deitel, and Savitch is by far clearer, although Savitch could still buff the textbook out a bit more with explaining `Compositon` topic better and clarifying paramater type .

Also Savitch summarizes every subsection and I am not 100% sure this is necessary in all subsections.

Savitch should urge his publisher not to begin a new subsection at the bottom of a page!

Savitch should make available more solutions in a separate manaul for those wishing it.

Overall I would say Savitch saved my day with my 2 JAVA courses. Deitel starts out with graphics, assuming the student will graps Java better but Deitel introduces some rather major concepts when doing this and I don't think the students would appreciate the complex ideas without using Savitch step by step methodologies. Deitel assumes a student undestands the concept of `extends`, `implements` etc and this is exactly what graphics class uses and Deitel assumes students will understand these concepts just because they are graphical in nature. Savithc covers these concepts later when other major concepts are covered so that a student will appreciate the `extends` concepts much better.

So Savitch and Deitel cover the same material, but in different sequences. And I believe that Savitch's approach works better and helps the student understand the more difficult concepts later in the textbook.

gerard sagliocca,
gerard_sagliocca@yahoo.com



User review
The best guide to JAVA
I learned JAVA language a couple of years ago. As I have to reuse it recently, I borrow the 2nd Edtion from a computer science guy in the school, because many people told me this is the best one. After I read through it, I decided to purchase the newest edtion. It's INDEED the best one of the JAVA guides I've ever read.