Reference

Java Networking and Awt Api Superbible: The Comprehensive Reference for the Java Programming Language

Format: Paperback
Author: Nataraj Nagaratnam
ReleaseDate: July, 1996
Publisher: Waite Group Pr
Rating:

Misleading Title
The excitement came with the big-bang title, but it didn't live up to my expectations. This was one of my top pick when I browsed the library for network programming in Java. It's usage spectrum lies more towards a learning tool rather than a reference book. The biggest dissappointment came in the "Network & Sockets" section which didn't have real world examples. It's got good coverage on GUIs using AWTs but performs poorly in terms of indexing and collecting examples into a single area.

Hence, it's a confusing reference book, and a so-so network-programming learning tool. It's no where near it's subtitle claim of a "Reference" nor a "Superbible".

An opportunity missed
This book advertises itself as "the Comprehensive Reference for the Java Programming Language". I had had high hopes for this book, the companion to the Java Language API Superbible; but as high the expectations, as great the dissappointment. That may be so, but a reference book is only as good as it's index, and for a 900+ page book, a 17 page index is simply not acceptable. The index is sparse and minimal, and does not even contain the class methods, except under the class items. This means you have to first look up which class a method belongs to - which you cannot do with this book. The sparce index, compounded with a confused ordering of the information in the book, makes it very hard for the readers to find what they are looking for. The contents themselves are very detailed and contain many examples - but what good is detailed information if you can't find it? If you need a good reference book, try elsewhere.

just what i was looking for!
In just about two weeks I was able to write cutting edge java applications/applets. This is just the book for people wanting to learn network programming in java. This book is a must for anyone who is seriously into java or network programming. Lucidly written, its a pleasure to read. There are lot of good examples to aid ones understanding of the subject. Again, this book is a must!.