Java Examples in a Nutshell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) [Paperback]

The second section of the book covers the core Java API, including I/O, NIO, threads, networking, security and cryptography, serialization, and reflection. This section of the book is really solid and includes great working and commented examples of most of the core set of Java API. I really liked the network section as it includes code that will fulfill most of your needs in terms of network related development.

The third section of the book deals with graphics and user-interface including Swing, Java 2D graphics, preferences, printing, drag-and-drop, JavaBeans, applets, and sound. Not being much of a UI guy, I glossed over most of this section but it seemed complete and comprehensive. I know where I am going to turn if I ever need to work with Swing or applets.

The last section of the book includes coverage of the server-side Java or J2EE development, including JDBC, JAXP (XML parsing and transformation), Servlets 2.4, JSP 2.0, and RMI. Being a back-end or server side developer, I spent a lot of time consuming this section and I was very impressed with the quality of the coverage, explanation and examples included in this section. The section starts off with a nice introduction to JDBC, database metadata and includes some nice examples configurable example that are ready for use with little or no modifications. I think that's important to new developers that are getting familiar with an API. In reading the code, it was nice to see the author using the execute() method instead of executeUpdate() or executeQuery() method along with a simple explanation of why he is doing that. Sounds simple, but I can't tell you the number of times junior developers have come to me and asked me about this exact topic.

After JDBC, the book jumps into XML with a nice intro to SAX, DOM, and XSLT. Not a lot of meat here, but XML is always a moving target in terms of the API. I wish this section had a little more to it as it is missing the whole idea of Java-XML data binding which is a useful topic. After XML, the book moves over to Servlets and JSP. Nice intro to servlets and JSP, but leaves you wanting more. I think the whole server-side Java just needs to be another book and I think David should just come up with a Java Enterprise Examples in a nutshell. O'Reilly already has some great books in this category including the Java Servlet and JSP cookbook.

Having said all that, I still really like this book for how it deals with the core API. This book contains 193 complete, documented examples which makes it a must for any junior developer that knows or is learning Java and wants to know how to apply the API. The examples from this book are available for download from the author's website located at davidflanagan dot com.

Contents
This book is a companion volume to the Java/Java Enterprise/Java Foundation Classes In A Nutshell books. It provides code examples for many of the classes used in those books.

The book contains the following chapters:

Part 1 - Learning Java - Java Basics; Objects, Classes, and Interfaces

Part 2 - Core Java APIs - Input/Output; Threads; Networking; New I/O; Security And Crytography; Internationalization; Reflection; Object Serialization

Part 3 - Desktop Java APIs - Graphical User Interfaces; Graphics; Printing; Data Transfer; JavaBeans; Applets; Sound

Part 4 - Enterprise Java APIs - Database Access With SQL; XML; Servlets and JavaServer Pages; Remote Method Invocation; Example Index

Review
Often when you are learning Java or exploring a new aspect of the language, it's difficult to make the bridge from the raw documentation to working code. The O'Reilly "Examples In A Nutshell" series is designed to make that transition from theoretical to practical, and David Flanagan's Java Examples In A Nutshell is no exception. It should be an essential part of your personal library if you are a Java professional.

Rather than spend time teaching the reader a particular class, the book assumes that you have one of the other Java Nutshell books for all the details of the class. In this volume, Flanagan jumps right into complete, well-documented examples of code that use those classes, thereby giving you a feel for how they work. Because he documents his code better than most of us do, there isn't that waste of time trying to figure out what the coder intended. The examples are easy to follow, and they are definitely helpful when you are working through the details of an unfamiliar class or concept. I often find myself looking through the chapters when I'm coding just to get a glance at how someone else would code a solution. It's almost like having a partner to bounce ideas off of.

In this latest edition, the author covers some of the new features in Java 1.4 like the New I/O and Sound APIs. Personally, I probably wouldn't do much with the sound code, but the New I/O section will be useful. He also covers the regular expression features which are new in the New I/O API. While I would also want documentation on regular expressions since I'm not a Perl expert, these examples will help me when I get to the point I need to use them.

Conclusion
Quite simply, this should be a "must buy" for your Java library. This book bridges the gap between reference material and your actual coding better than any other book of its kind.

The examples are well written and complete. You don't have to search back for prior examples to understand the code. Before each example is an explanation of what the example is trying to do and the concepts it will demonstrate. The comments in the code fully explain why the author is doing something or choosing a particular API method. This book is good for someone who understands the language, but is trying to learn some new APIs. One of the best chapters is the chapter on threads, because it has just about everything you would need to understand about threads to use Java.

This book is a valuable reference. I am sure that I could use this book to understand an API that I have never used before (2D graphics, javax.sound, etc.) by just reading the examples and explanations that accompany them.