Beginner's Guides Books

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Barry Burd

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Programming -> Java -> Beginner's Guides

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good for absolute noobs, but not in depth... 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

If you know nothing about programming, this book is pretty much for you. It discusses the most basic elements of the Java programming language, with good coverage of syntax and keywords. However, it simply doesn't go into great enough depth about everything. If it's for beginners, it ought to explain all the nuances of Java (what is public static void for), and cover the things most people would take for granted in depth. Overall, a good read for a beginner programmer, though!

Good for early teen-agers 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'm a computer scientist and taught my 11-year-old son with this book.
No difficulty was found and I decided to buy other "for Dummies" series for my son and myself.
--JB from ROK.

Editorial Review:

• Covering everything from basic Java development concepts to the latest tools and techniques used in Java, this book will put would-be programmers on their way to Java mastery
• Explores what goes into creating a program, how to put the pieces together, dealing with standard programming challenges, debugging, and making it work
• Updated for the release of the Java SDK 2.0, with all examples revised to reflect the changes in the technology

Sams Teach Yourself Java 6 in 21 Days (5th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself)

Rogers Cadenhead, Laura Lemay

Amazon Price: $31.49 List Price: $49.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sams Amazon Marketplace: 47 new & used starting at $25.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

“If you get only one Java book, it should be Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days” –PC Magazine

In just 21 days, you can acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to develop three kinds of programs with Java: applications on your computer, servlets on a web server, and browser-launched Java Web Start applications.

No previous programming experience required. By following the 21 carefully organized lessons in this book, anyone can learn the basics of Java programming.

Learn at your own pace. You can work through each chapter sequentially to make sure you thoroughly understand all of the concepts and methodologies, or you can focus on specific lessons to learn the techniques that interest you most.

Test your knowledge. Each chapter ends with a Workshop section filled with questions, answers, and exercises for further study. There are even certification practice questions.

“Sams Teach Yourself Java is one of the best introductions to hands-on Java programming. If you buy one book on Java, this is the one to buy!” –Independent Web Review

• Completely revised, updated, and expanded to cover the latest features of Java 6
• Learn to develop standalone Java applications, web servlets, JavaServer Pages, and Java Web Start applications
• Easy-to-understand, practical examples clearly illustrate the fundamentals of Java programming
• Discover how Swing can help you quickly develop programs with a graphical user interface
• Find out about JDBC database programming, Internet client/server programming, and XML parsing with the open source XOM class library
• Covers new features of version 6 such as Java DB, the new relational database that is now a built-in
• part of Java

Rogers Cadenhead is a web application developer who has written 22 books on Internet-related topics, including Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours. He maintains this book’s official website at http://www.java21days.com.

Laura Lemay is one of the world’s most popular authors on Web development topics. She is the author of the bestselling Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML, as well as Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days.

CD-ROM includes:

• Source code for the examples developed in the book
• Java™ SE Development Kit 6
• NetBeans™ IDE 5.5
• Bonus materials

Category: Java Programming

Covers: Java 6 Platform Standard Edition

User Level: Beginning—Intermediate

$44.99 USA / $55.99 CAN / £31.99 Net UK (inc. of VAT)

Learning Java

Pat Niemeyer, Jonathan Knudsen

Amazon Price: $29.67 List Price: $44.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $11.94

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 63 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Java is the language du jour, and plenty of books have been written about it. But with so many books available, new offerings should be something special. This one isn't.

Learning Java starts at the beginning with a "hello world"-style program that demonstrates using Sun's Java tools. Throughout, the book introduces features using examples--all thoroughly discussed and explained in as straightforward and jargon-free a manner as practicable.

A tricky aspect of Java is the way classes are related, so it's neat to see a whole chapter devoted to the subject early on. Even more opaque is the explicit use of threads. Again, this topic is made accessible in this text, especially with its discussion of thread synchronization. Basic graphics, video handling, and other media in Java are discussed, followed by Beans and the builder environment--but stopping short of JavaBeans. The book finishes with a section on applets, the Java plug-in, and digital signatures.

Overall, however, the reader gets no feeling of working toward a goal, and perhaps this would have been a better book if a project had been its theme. Another odd decision in the mix here was to ignore the several--some free--Java IDEs generally used to program Java. (The book makes a point of saying it hasn't discussed them but doesn't explain. Even beginners find Java more accessible in a programming environment.)

Still, Learning Java, which uses Java 2 v1.3, does a competent job of introducing the language to beginners. As with most O'Reilly books, it's authoritative, lucid, and well edited. Though this book may fail to inspire in the reader the presumed enthusiasm for Java felt by the authors, you won't go wrong with this one, and its coverage of object-oriented programming issues is particularly good. --Steve Patient, Amazon.co.uk

Sams Teach Yourself Programming with Java in 24 Hours (4th Edition) (Sams Teach Yourself)

Rogers Cadenhead

Amazon Price: $23.09 List Price: $34.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sams Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $11.40

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent book, even for XP users 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful.

I am just finishing this book, and it is one of the best programming books I have ever worked with. The author has a sense of humor that completely complements the work. I usually find humor in a programming book cheesy and distracting, but Cadenhead's humor is informative and fun at heart, and makes the work go more quickly and make more sense.

The DOS issues mentioned in another review are not a problem with this book. Learning any powerful programming language these days does involve understanding a little bit of what's going on under the hood in your computer. That learning curve exists in almost any language, and each book needs to include it. There is extensive coverage in this book for the difficulties that may arise in this stage, and help for getting around those issues. Once you get your particular system set up properly, you will enjoy playing with the language. There is also extensive online support for these issues.

I am also sticking with the Sams 24 Hour series for other languages, because they are very well done for a wide range of readers.

Editorial Review:

If you have been wanting to learn Java, check out the newly revised fourth edition of the best-seller Sams Teach Yourself Programming with Java in 24 Hours. This step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to create simple Java programs and applets. Comprised of 24 one-hour lessons, this new edition focuses on key programming concepts and essential Java basics, has been improved by dozens of reader comments, and is reorganized to better cover the latest developments in Java. The book's coverage of core Java programming topics has also been expanded. A great starting point for learning Java, this book is also a great primer to reading sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days.

Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version (7th Edition)

Y. Daniel Liang

Amazon Price: $103.50 List Price: $115.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 34 new & used starting at $88.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

maybe its the learning style 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I saw Dream a Little's review and came to the conclusion it may be peoples learning style that determines if they like this book. I am new at programming and the book used in the college course I took was Deittel's 7th ed. Java How to Program. This book left me with a lot of unanswered questions that other books I had checked out from the library could not answer. I was about to give up when I stumbled upon this book and was amazed and wishing I had found it sooner in the semester.
I found it explained a lot of the basics very clearly. It also had a lot more understandable examples given. Even though Deittel's book is over 1500+ pages it came nowhere near as good as the examples I found in Liang's approx 700 pages.
I was a bit spooked at the price when I bought it, wondering if I was going to regret it. But after using the book I concluded this maybe one of those instances where you get what you pay for.
Liang uses a lot of diagrams to show how the pieces fit together as well as simple to understand explanations.
If you are already a programmer in Java then I doubt this is worth the price, but for the beginner/novice who likes to see how the pieces fit together and wishes to understand why things go in the order they do, then this maybe the book for you.
If I later move to another language, I will be looking to see if this author has anything written in that category as well.

Editorial Review:

Groundbreaking fundamentals — first approach enables readers to understand the basics before being introduced to more challenging topics. Liang offers one of the broadest ranges of carefully chosen examples, reinforcing key concepts with objectives lists, introduction and chapter overviews, easy-to-follow examples, chapter summaries, review questions, programming exercises, and interactive self-test. Now uses standard classes only. Offers new chapters on data structures, JSF for visual Web development, and Web services; includes a new standalone chapter on the full GUI library. Uses UML diagrams in every example starting chapter 8. Includes additional notes with diagrams. Comprehensive coverage of Java and programming make this a useful reference for IT professionals.

Hibernate Made Easy: Simplified Data Persistence with Hibernate and JPA (Java Persistence API) Annotations

Cameron Wallace McKenzie

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

If HIBERNATE makes Java-based, data-persistence, so incredibly easy to perform, then why do all of the most popular resources make Hibernate technology so darned impossible to learn? Well, learning Hibernate doesn't have to be hard anymore; not with a copy of HIBERNATE MADE EASY by your side! Cameron McKenzie's, Hibernate Made Easy, finally brings to light the idea that a technology that is fun and easy to use, should also be fun and easy to learn. Building upon simple, straight forward examples that make even the most difficult topics easy to understand, this book explores all of the key concepts that you absolutely must know in order to start effectively leveraging the Hibernate framework. Discarding the old, XML based, -hbm- mapping files, Hibernate Made Easy will show you how to simplify your designs by leveraging both Hibernate and JPA annotations together, making your applications more manageable, maintainable, and most importantly, faster and easier to develop! From the fundamental, Create, Retrieve, Update & Delete operations, to the mapping of complex inheritance hierarchies, Hibernate Made Easy explains it, using a friendly and conversational style that reads less like a technical book, and more like an informative conversation with a Hibernate expert. And while the examples in the book are incredibly easy to follow and reproduce (---there are no code errors in this book -- that is guaranteed!---), the concepts this book will help you learn will empower you to solve even the most daunting programming challenges. From managing transactions over an HTTP based request-response cycle, to implementing highly advanced Data Access Objects (DAOs) with Java 5 generics, this book will teach you what you really need to know about Java based persistence with Hibernate. If you want to learn Hibernate, if you want to learn Hibernate quickly, and you want it explained in a manner that is easy to follow and understand, there really is no other choice. Get a copy of Cameron McKenzie's Hibernate Made Easy today! For more information, check out hiberbook.com

Introduction to Neural Networks for Java, 2nd Edition

Jeff Heaton

Amazon Price: $35.99 List Price: $39.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Heaton Research, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 16 new & used starting at $35.99

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> Artificial Intelligence -> Neural Networks

Editorial Review:

Introduction to Neural Networks with Java, Second Edition, introduces the Java programmer to the world of Neural Networks and Artificial Intelligence. Neural network architectures, such as the feedforward, Hopfield, and self-organizing map architectures are discussed. Training techniques, such as backpropagation, genetic algorithms and simulated annealing are also introduced. Practical examples are given for each neural network. Examples include the traveling salesman problem, handwriting recognition, financial prediction, game strategy, mathematical functions, and Internet bots. All Java source code is available online for easy downloading.

Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition

John P Flynt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Starts with a clean sheet of paper for the complete beginner. 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This is a book oriented to the complete beginner. It basically starts with a blank sheet of paper and begins with a simple applet that just outputs a single line of text to the screen.

From here he goes on to provide a very simply step by step tutorial to cover the fundamental rules of Java. In this book he doesn't get everything there is to know about Java. It's an introductory book, it covers the bases of the language well enough to get you started. You will probably want an additional book before you become the local master.

If I have one complaint about the book it is one that I complain about a lot on Java books. On page 5 he starts talking about object oriented programming. And he talks on for two or three pages. Then he skips saying anything more about object oriented programming for about 160 pages. By then the reader has completely forgotten about the few pages on page 5.

Editorial Review:

Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner provides you with an introduction to Java that allows you to learn the fundamentals of object-oriented programming while becoming acquainted with many of the core features of Java. This book starts with the assumption that you have not previously written a computer program. It then walks you through the creation of a variety of games and applications. After you have your footing with the basics, you learn to develop your own systems of classes, and by the end of the book, you are working with many of Java's Graphical User Interface (GUI) features and developing a desktop Windows application. This book provides a solid introduction for anyone desiring a relaxed, fully guided tour of the fundamentals of Java, programming, and the object-oriented approach to application development.

Digital Image Processing: An Algorithmic Introduction using Java

Wilhelm Burger, Mark James Burge

Amazon Price: $55.96 List Price: $69.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Springer Amazon Marketplace: 36 new & used starting at $49.62

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"This will be one of my continuing reference books for some time to come."
Steve Cunningham, PhD, Past President of SIGGRAPH

"An excellent resource for the users of ImageJ."
Wayne Rasband, author of ImageJ

This modern, self-contained, textbook explains the fundamental algorithms of digital image processing through practical examples and complete Java implementations. Available for the first time in English, Digital Image Processing is the definitive textbook for students, researchers, and professionals in search of critical analysis and modern implementations of the most important algorithms in the field.

• Practical examples and carefully constructed chapter-ending exercises drawn from the authors' years of experience teaching this material

• Real implementations, concise mathematical notation, and precise algorithmic descriptions designed for programmers and practitioners

• Easily adaptable Java code and completely worked out examples for easy inclusion in existing, and rapid prototyping of new, applications

• Self-contained chapters and additional online material suitable for a flexible one- or two- semester course

• Uses ImageJ, the image processing system developed, maintained, and freely distributed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)

• A comprehensive Website (www.imagingbook.com) with complete Java source code, test images, and additional instructor materials

This comprehensive, reader-friendly introduction is ideal for foundation courses as well as eminently suitable for self-study.

Wilhelm Burger is the director of the Digital Media degree programs at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences at Hagenberg.

Mark J. Burge is a program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a principal at Noblis (Mitretek) in Washington, D.C.

Introduction to Java Programming, Brief Version (7th Edition)

Y. Daniel Liang

Amazon Price: $92.70 List Price: $103.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $56.46

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Editorial Review:

Groundbreaking fundamentals – first approach enables readers to understand the basics before being introduced to more challenging topics. Liang offers one of the broadest ranges of carefully chosen examples, reinforcing key concepts with objectives lists, introduction and chapter overviews, easy-to-follow examples, chapter summaries, review questions, programming exercises, and interactive self-test. Now uses standard classes only. Uses UML diagrams in every example starting chapter 8. Includes additional notes with diagrams. Comprehensive coverage of Java and programming make this a useful reference for IT professionals.