[.ca] Java 2 For Dummies (ISBN 0764507656)

no pain, no gain:
After reading some of the other reviews of this book, I was quite daunted at the prospect of venturing past chapter 6. Yes, it does get more complicated, but I think it has to. Chapters 1 - 6 are a great introduction to understanding the grammar of the Java language but the author purposely keeps it simple by not developing the Object Oriented concept until the reader has got settled in. He does everything in an old fashioned procedural manner inside the Main method so that the reader learns some basic ideas such as do loops and if statements. If like me you have previous knowledge of a procedural language, chapters 1-6 will definitely seem a breeze compared to the following chapters. I do agree though that the book could explain some things better. I didn't think the explanation of the importance of accessor methods was very precise, for example. It wasn't until I'd read on in the book that I really understood how they could be used. I found the introduction of getters and setters into all the example programs unnecessary, just serving to confuse the reader and obscure the concepts being demonstrated. I too had to re-read bits over and over to understand them but I don't consider this a criticism of the book. From my previous aborted efforts to learn Java I already knew what a difficult language it is for a complete newbie to pick up. Having read this book (in two weeks) I now know enough to get me trying out my own code and reading some more advanced books. As a read, it's quite entertaining. There are jokes along the way and the author is chatty rather than overly dry and technical. I'll definitely take a look at the other Barry Bund Java book in the Dummies series.

Ok for the absolute beginer:
It covers all basic aspects, but that's all. It's not a bad book as long as you know what you're looking for. People knowing the basics should avoid it and search for something more detailed

I havent read this yet but take my advice.:
I am just about to buy this book, and the reason for it is becuase I recentley purchased and read barry's other book beginning java programming for dummies, this book was very easy to read, very informative and entertaining all in one. So I am assuming that since this book is on the same topic and the same author, it should be a very good book. I also recommend reading the beginning book before java 2, becuase beginning programming really gets you into java programming.

Falls Short:
Interestingly enough I found the first 6 chapters of the book and excellent intro to Java 2 concepts. After that, the books reading level sky rockets. I found myself enjoying everything untill it became to complicated to understand the authors examples. I had to read some chapters 3-4 times before I grasped the concept of what he was trying to explain. This is due to the authors assumption of the users pace. Dummies is meant to dumb down things at all times, this book fails that.

Coal in a diamond mine:
I'm a big fan of dummies books, have used them for years, and recommend them to students. But this one is horrid. I'm an experienced programmer with some OOP experience, and I could not follow what he was talking about. The examples where parts were completely unexplained did not help. I don't buy books so I can reread sections three times and still not be sure what the author meant. I am looking elsewhere to learn Java, and I recommed you do the same.