Core Java(TM) 2, Volume I--Fundamentals (7th Edition) (Core Java 2)

Head First Design Patterns

Effective Java Programming Language Guide

Head First Java, 2nd Edition

Java

Core Java(TM) 2, Volume II--Advanced Features (7th Edition)

Format: Paperback
Author: Cay Horstmann
ReleaseDate: 22 November, 2004
Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR
Rating:

Clear but brief overview of advanced features of J2SE 1.5
However, even in its 7th edition it is still the best and the clearest overview of advanced features of the language for Java 1. This book does not substitute for all of the specialized books on the subjects that it covers, and it is by no means encyclopedic in scope.5. What is particularly nice is that the author has split his Core Java series up such that if your goal is just to learn the language you need only buy volume one, and if your goal is to get a handle on the changes in the advanced features of the language you need only buy volume 2. They are pretty much independent of one another. Add to that the fact that both of these volumes can be found used for about $20 each, and it is definitely worth the purchase. The writing style is very clear with much sample code. The author even gives a little bit of background showing how each feature of the language has changed over the years. I notice that Amazon only shows the table of contents for the previous edition, so I show the table of contents for the current edition next:
1. MULTITHREADING
What Are Threads?; Interrupting Threads; Thread States; Thread Properties; Synchronization; Blocking Queues; Thread-Safe Collections; Callables and Futures; Executors; Synchronizers; Threads and Swing;

2. COLLECTIONS
Collection Interfaces; Concrete Collections; The Collections Framework; Algorithms; Legacy Collections;

3. NETWORKING
Connecting to a Server; Implementing Servers; Sending E-Mail; Making URL Connections; Advanced Socket Programming;

4. DATABASE PROGRAMMING
The Design of JDBC; The Structured Query Language; JDBC Installation; Basic JDBC Programming Concepts; Query Execution; Scrollable and Updatable Result Sets; Metadata; Row Sets; Transactions; Advanced Connection Management; Introduction to LDAP;

5. DISTRIBUTED OBJECTS
The Roles of Client and Server; Remote Method Invocations; Setup for Remote Method Invocation; Parameter Passing in Remote Methods; Server Object Activation; Java IDL and CORBA; Remote Method Calls with SOAP;

6. ADVANCED SWING
Lists; Trees; Tables; Styled Text Components; Progress Indicators; Component Organizers;

7. ADVANCED AWT
The Rendering Pipeline; Shapes; Areas; Strokes; Paint; Coordinate Transformations; Clipping; Transparency and Composition; Rendering Hints; Readers and Writers for Images; Image Manipulation; Printing; The Clipboard; Drag and Drop;

8. JAVABEANS COMPONENTS
Why Beans?; The Bean-Writing Process; Using Beans to Build an Application; Naming Patterns for Bean Properties and Events; Bean Property Types; BeanInfo Classes; Property Editors; Customizers; JavaBeans Persistence;

9. SECURITY
Class Loaders; Bytecode Verification; Security Managers and Permissions; Digital Signatures; Code Signing; Encryption;

10. INTERNATIONALIZATION
Locales; Number Formats; Date and Time; Collation; Message Formatting; Text Files and Character Sets; Resource Bundles; A Complete Example;

11. NATIVE METHODS
Calling a C Function from the Java Programming Language; Numeric Parameters and Return Values; String Parameters; Accessing Fields; Encoding Signatures; Calling Java Methods; Accessing Array Elements; Handling Errors; Using the Invocation API; A Complete Example: Accessing the Windows Registry;

12. XML
Introducing XML; Parsing an XML Document; Validating XML Documents; Locating Information with XPath; Using Namespaces; Using the SAX Parser; Generating XML Documents; XSL Transformations;

13. ANNOTATIONS
Addition of Metadata to Programs; An Example: Annotating Event Handlers; Annotation Syntax; Standard Annotations; The Apt Tool for Source-Level Annotation Processing; Bytecode Engineering;
.

Not a very good book for the real world
. Not a very good book for the real world.

Straight forward.
. This is the first edition that I have read, I found it to be very appropriate for my needs.