Java Magazine, Jan/Feb 2017
ORACLE COM JAVAMAGAZINE JANUARY FEBRUARY 2017 13 Few programming books have a guaranteed preallocated place on my bookshelf but updates to Volumes I and II of Cay S Horstmanns Core Java have occupied the equivalent of frontrow center seats on my shelf for years That is because these two books together represent the clearest deepest and most extensive explanation of the Java language and its principal libraries As with previous editions each volume tips in at somewhat more than 1000 pages which no one could argue is insuficient However the suficiency does not arise from the bulk but the thoughtfulness and depth of the explanations A shining example from Volume I which I previously reviewed is Horstmanns introduction to lambdas Ive read many explanations of lambdas but not one explained them so approachably with easy to grasp examples that successively pull readers along into the complexity of functional interfaces and eventually dump them out at inner classes In this way inner classes now make sense in the context of lambdas rather than explaining inner classes in order to demonstrate lambdas Along the way Horstmann throws in tidbits about the historical solutions that preceded lambdas explains how lambdas differ from similar constructs in other languages and ofers warnings on usage while pointing out where unexpected traps lie This is how you want to learn a language deeply and with an author concerned about the reader This approach also makes Core Java an excellent resource for later reference While Volume I presents the basics and focuses primarily on the language the just released Volume II lays out advanced features of likely interest to professionals This volume covers the Java 8 Stream library advanced I O XML networking database programming the completely rewritten Date and Time API annotation processing security native methods and curiously advanced Swing and AWT In addition to the admirable text Horstmann supports his explanations with snippets and where necessary complete programs exceeding 100 lines of lucid code My only gripe about Volume II is how long it took to come to market It covers Java SE 8 not Java 9 which means that more than two years elapsed for it to see the light of day a long time for a reference and too long for a tutorial Given that Java 9 is expected to ship this year you see the problem But for developers who expect to work with Java 8 for the next few years there is no better coverage of the language and libraries than in this fine volume Andrew Binstock java books CORE JAVA VOLUME II ADVANCED FEATURES 10TH EDITION By Cay S Horstmann Prentice Hall
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