A question about ' must have ' Java books

Hello All,

I am from C/C++ background and familiar with the basics of Java, I wan to be a professional Java programmer. I am going to buy a few Java books which cover the following topics in good details for intermediate to advanced programmers:

Design and coding styles, practical tips, debugging, etc.
Networking
Distributed computing, RMI, CORBA
Multithreading
JDBC
Web programming, XML, Servlets and JSP
Java Beans, J2EE
Program development using Eclipse
GUI

I know that there are many good books in the market with some overlap in their coverage. Obviously I can't afford to buy and don't have time to read too many books, so I want to buy minimum number of 'must have' books.

Could you please recommmend some 'must have' java books.

Thanks for your help !

Jim

If you ask ten people for their list of "must have" books, you're going to get ten different lists.

The collected wisdom of the JavaRanch staff regarding every Java-related book ever written is stored here. Spend some time browsing, and then decide for yourself.

Sometimes, the free on-line resources are pretty good. Perhaps these can help save you from a purchase or two.

Sun's Java Tutorial

Introduction to Computer Science using Java by Bradley Kjell

Introduction to Programming Using Java by David J. Eck

Dick Baldwin's Java Programming Tutorials

Interactive Programming In Java by Lynn Andrea Stein

Bruce Eckel's Thinking In Java

JavaRanch's own Campfire Stories

Allen B. Downey's How To Think Like A Computer Scientist

For the more advanced topics, good free on-line resources are also available. On Sun's site are quite a few decent tutorials on the topics you mentioned above. Marty Hall provides a free version of his book, Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages, at http://pdf.coreservlets.com
[ September 26, 2004: Message edited by: Dirk Schreckmann ]

Jim Smithian:

I am from C/C++ background and familiar with the basics of Java, I wan to be a professional Java programmer. I am going to buy a few Java books which cover the following topics in good details for intermediate to advanced programmers:

I would start with David Flanagan's "Java in a Nutshell" as the best first book on Java for someone who knows C and C++. Just leafing through the appendices will help a lot in learning about what libraries Java offers.

Design and coding styles, practical tips, debugging, etc.

Joshua Bloch's "Effective Java". I don't necessarily agree with everything in it, but he provides reasons so the reader can decide for himself. He also points out when the proper coding style in Java differs from that in C++ as a result of language quirks.

Networking
Distributed computing, RMI, CORBA
Multithreading

I think you could get the Java specific information on these from Sun's on line documentation. If you need to learn the subject, get some classic book on it, not necessarily specific to Java.

JDBC

I found Reese's "Database Programming with JDBC and Java" to be good. I wouldn't bother buying it unless and until I was actually using JDBC, though. Just reading through a book isn't likely to be all that valuable; it's reading a book combined with using the information in it to actually write and debug code that's useful.

Web programming, XML, Servlets and JSP
Java Beans, J2EE

I recommend getting books on the specific problem you are solving as you need them.

Program development using Eclipse

Download Eclipse and browse through its online documentation (all free).

GUI

I have three different books on Swing and AWT, none fully satisfactory. I wouldn't buy one unless and until I needed to write a Swing application.

Could you please recommmend some 'must have' java books.

I'd start with the first two books I mentioned, by Flanagan and by Bloch.

Effective Java is indispensible. I can't say that about any (other) Java book.

-j-
[ September 27, 2004: Message edited by: Jeff Langr ]

Please dont forget
Java Language Specification

for Java Basics use Khalid Mughal.
It is for SCJP preparation but if you really want to learn Java basics this is very good book.
(Chapter on Inner classes is exceptionally good in this book)

thanks & regards.

"Just Java(TM) 2" by Peter van der Linden is the standard textbook for the Cattle Drive Java course on JavaRanch. Peter has a very strong C/C++ background and covers most of the topics you mentioned. I'm not sure about Eclipse IDE. I don't recall seeing that in Just Java 2 version 5, although he might have included it in verson 6, which I haven't seen yet.