Head First Design Patterns

Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies, Second Edition

Java(TM) Puzzlers : Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases

Head First Java, 2nd Edition

Programming

Effective Java Programming Language Guide

Format: Paperback
Author: Joshua Bloch
ReleaseDate: 05 June, 2001
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional
Rating:

Not Just For Java Developers


I work with Flash ActionScript, which is similar enough to Java that nearly all of Bloch's points apply. I have never done more than play around with Java, but this book has still has had as much influence on my programming habits as any other book. (I just had to skip the "Threads" chapter, mentally replace "Exception" with "Error", etc. )

Three primary things I like about the book:

1) The content. He's right on pretty much every point.

2) The format. It's easy to find relevant information, and each section is fairly compact (without being incomplete).

3) The tone. Bloch comes across as a stern, principled teacher, and I almost get a sense of Schadenfreude imagining some writer of spaghetti code getting his knuckles smacked with a ruler for violating good design patterns. (Hey, if you've worked with Flash as long as I have, you know that there are a jillion "coders" out there who have no idea what the heck they are doing. ) The book gives voice to the frustrations I feel with other coders, even while pointing out ways I myself could be better.

Condensed Java best practices
. Ever since Scott Meyers wrote his seminal work "Effective C++.", the "effective" word has been frequently misused to produce mediocre work. But Joshua has produced a book equivalent in stature to Scott's, in the Java realm.
The pearls of implementation details and finer points of the language that could be learnt only from years of Java application and analyses, has been distilled into a comparatively small book.
The book has been divided into 10 chapters, for example "creating and Destroying Objects", "Classes and Interfaces" etc. If you are consummate Java developer you could dive into any section of your choice or even a specific chapter. The chapters though well connected, can still be read independently. If you are new to Java tread with care, time may be better spent reading an introductory Java book, which this isn't.
For example, this book consumes 8 pages to explain in detail, with examples, of all the vagaries of the "equals()" method. If you are programming in Java for a living, get this book now!.

It's worth every penny
Mandatory read for all Java developers. Joshua Bloch hit a bull's-eye.