BKJAVAPL.RVW   960420
 
"The Java Programming Language", Ken Arnold/James Gosling, 1996, 0-201-63455-4,
U$34.38
%A   Ken Arnold
%A   James Gosling
%C   1 Jacob Way, Reading, MA   01867-9984
%D   1996
%G   0-201-63455-4
%I   Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.
%O   U$34.38 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 bkexpress@aw.com
%P   352
%S   The Java Series ... from the Source
%T   "The Java Programming Language"
 
The preface says that the book is intended for those "familiar with basic
programming concepts".  I suspect the definition of "basic" needs to be
stretched to cover this material, but I can generally accept that.  It also "is
not an introduction to object-oriented programming".  Fair enough.  There is
also an attempt to dissociate the work from the mere designing of applets. 
Again, fair enough: there are going to be a great many books about using Java
for quick and dirty applet creation.  What that does, though, is to remove the
book from the purview of the majority of readers interested in it, who have
been told that Java is a wonderful (and easy) new language for programming
fancy stuff on Web pages.  The target audience is therefore experienced object-
oriented programmers who want to use Java for more sophisticated projects. 
These people will be delighted with the book, but they are a fairly select
group.
 
With the creator of Java as a co-author you might expect an "insider" book,
and, from the joke on the dedication page on through, this is so.  This work
concentrates on the design and intentions of Java, rather than on specific
programming or tutorials.  There are examples enough throughout the book, but
the emphasis is on how the concepts work rather than simply what particular
keywords do.  A running Java programming environment will also be very helpful
to the reader.  There are exercises, particularly in the early chapters, but
they work better as practice and exploration than as teaching assignments.
 
The first paragraph of this review might be taken as a negative comment about
the book itself.  That is not my intention.  Java is probably one of the most
significant developments in language design in many years.  That it is
currently being perceived as a tool for creating Web animation is a problem of
public relations, not the system.  Arnold and Gosling's book is an important
and useful text for those who are serious about Java.  It is not, however, for
those who have yet to master the ALT tag in HTML.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1996   BKJAVAPL.RVW   960420

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