Amazon.co.uk Review
JFC is positioned between O'Reilly's
Java In a Nutshell and
JavaEnterprise titles. It's really two books in that the first seven chapters (to page 136) are entirely concerned with the graphics and graphical user interface APIs in Java 2. There are lots of examples, mainly using Swing, which augments AWT.
Although it covers a lot of ground quickly, Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell does a good job of discussing the differences from Java 1.0and 1.2. It also explains a lot of the real world usage issues which arise when constructing Java interfaces.
The majority of the book, however, is class references for the various Java 2 packages. Each chapter deals with one class, starting with an overview and heirarchy diagram. The references are arranged alphabetically by class and package, so you need to know the package the class is in to find it quickly.
This reviewer finds the layout and typography of O'Reilly's reference sections difficult to read with so much of the rather small text being embedded in dark grey. It doesn't photocopy well either. However, it does the job as a complete reference. --Steve Patient
Product Description
Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell is an indispensable quick reference for Java programmers who are writing applications that use graphics or graphical user interfaces. The author of the bestselling Java in a Nutshell has written fast-paced introductions to the Java APIs that comprise the Java Foundation Classes (JFC), such as the Swing GUI components and Java 2D, so that you can start using these exciting new technologies right away. This book also includes O'Reilly's classic-style, quick-reference material for all of the classes in the javax.swing and java.awt packages and their numerous subpackages. This reference material covers all of the new JFC classes in the Java 2 platform, as well as the existing Java 1.1 AWT classes. Once you've learned about the JFC, you'll keep this book next to your keyboard for handy reference while you program. Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell contains the following:
- An overview of the architecture of graphical user interfaces built with both the new Swing API and the older AWT
- An introduction to the important components and application services provided by the Swing API
- An comprehensive explanation of the features of the new Java 2D graphics API
- A complete quick reference for the graphics- and GUI-related classes in the Java 2 platform
This book is part of the two-volume set of quick references that every Java programmer needs. It is an essential companion to
Java in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition, which covers the key nongraphical APIs in Java 1.2. A third volume,
Java Enterprise in a Nutshell, focuses on the Java Enterprise APIs and is of interest to programmers working on server-side or enterprise Java applications.
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