Bloch provides 57 items (did he reject "varieties"?) grouped by subject. Each item highlights a "gotcha", expands on best practice or argues for deprecating a common practice. For example, among the gotchas, he points out problems with relying on finalisers, whose implementation varies from one JVM to another and may not run at all under some circumstances.

Best practice also gets a lot of airing. A neat example is not relying on Java's default object serialisation API, which--among other problems--can cause the object to break if you make any changes. This can result in a code maintenance nightmare. In the last category he discusses the string concatenation, "+". Using this can be a hundred times slower than appending to a StringBuffer. No problem for a one-off string but using it repeatedly can cripple performance.

Many of the items discussed are fairly trivial, such as returning zero rather than null for zero length arrays or avoiding the use of floats when you need precise answers--perhaps they were thrown in to make the magic "57"--but despite these Effective Java Programming Language Guide offers a fascinating insight into Java's architecture and solid, easily assimilated guidance on its effective usage.

Unlike most books for programmers, this is one you really will find difficult to put down. Every serious Java programmer should read it. --Steve Patient

Product Description

Effective Java Programming Language Guide distills the hard-won wisdom of today's best Java programmers into 50 techniques for designing and constructing more robust, high-performance software. Josh Bloch, one of Sun's most widely respected Java developers, focuses on the practical problems virtually every Java developer encounters, offering specific solutions and top-notch code examples. Josh Bloch identifies 50 practices that lead directly to better code -- including better alternatives for common practices that have proven undesirable in real-world development. The techniques are specific, thoroughly explained, and supported by top-notch code examples. Among the highlights: why developers should avoid finalizers; when to use delegation instead of inheritance; and how to make the most of Java's powerful typesafe enum pattern. Nearly all 50 practices relate to the "core" of the Java platform -- the language itself -- making the book relevant to every Java developer.