If you are a student (with a lot of extra cash to burn), don't bother.
If you are a professional programmer, then it depends. I have taken intensive courses prior to projects (although none were Java courses). It is a great way to get up to speed on a subject, so that you can dive head first into a project. Time is money, and starting a project in a week, because you can get up to speed in a week, may be worth it.
If you are a professional programmer, who want to take one of these courses out of interest, then I am not sure. I am not sure if a week is enough to retain the subject for very long.
Henry [ July 26, 2008: Message edited by: Henry Wong ]
This is just my opinion based on my having taken three such (company funded) courses...
While the answer will vary for different people (since people learn differently), in general, I agree with Henry. Those "learn XYZ in a week" courses are good exposure to a subject. You're not going to come out of them a master of the subject. But they can be a good jump start so you are at least exposed to all the different parts of the subject/technology. This way you know what's available in the technology and what it is capable of. You can then become more proficient as you use the technology and via other learning resources, like books. With some technologies, you may still have to do some reading and learning before using the technology even after taking the course since sometimes the examples used in the classes are extremely simplistic.
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