COM1204 Spring 2001 -- The Java language/platform

Introduction

Our textbook focuses on program development rather than the many details of the Java language itself. It rightly assumes that there are many books and online sources of information about Java. So this course page contains useful links to such Java resources, to fill the gap. When I want to know just about anything, I simply use google.com to search. It works fine for virtually any kind of question you might have about the Java language.

Books -- Hardcopy and on-line

At last count there were over fifteen hundred books (!) on the Java language, so picking out a few to suggest here is not easy!

• O'Reilly publishes an entire series of Java books. I use their Java in a Nutshell as a useful reference guide. About one-third of the book introduces you to the language and the other two-thirds is an API quick-reference.



• Sun Microsystems who developed the Java language publish their own series of Java books (through Addison-Wesley publishers). Ten of these books are available on-line in their entirety ( = free). Information on the books and links to the on-line versions are available here.



• Beyond these, Boston is replete with large and high-quality bookstores. Examining on-line booklists, especially when ranked by reviews or by best selling ratings, can be useful also.

On-line reference materials

• A major source is Sun's Documentation and Training page.



• Sun's Java Standard Edition Platform Documentation page includes links to the APIs as well as to the on-line Java Tutorial, which has many "trails" on various topic areas.



• Marty Hall at Johns Hopkins University has assembled a huge collection of links to all sorts of Java resources. He's also the author of a well-respected Java book.



• NEW 4/5/01 --> A Complete on-line book, Thinking in Java 2nd ed. by Bruce Eckel (cached copy at CCS).

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