Whether you want to learn the Java programming language for fun, school, for school, or for your job, the one thing you will need is a collection of excellent texts to help you learn Java quickly. O'Reilly's Learning Java, 3rd Edition is useful as part of that collection, but you probably wouldn't want to rely on it as your only source of Java information.

Writing analysis and reading strategy

Learning Java, 3rd Edition is very clearly written and easy to understand. The only shortcoming to the language of the book is its pace -- you're expected to learn every concept quickly. I found it necessary to take notes while reading, and I could only do a few pages at a time because I had to continually consult my notes or go back and read about a part of the language that was explained only once. Each page had at least one new term to remember. If you fall behind on a few terms, you'll quickly drift away from the text.

I'm not sure that there's any benefit to reading the book cover to cover, as there are no devices in place to help the reader remember the material. There are no quizzes, tests, exercises, or anything like that -- it's strictly the material and some examples. Learning Java is best used not as a textbook, but as a reference. In other words, you'll find this book more useful if you have already started programming with Java and need to learn how to use it more efficiently.

Putting the book to the test

So how easy is it to learn the Java language by using Learning Java, 3rd Edition? That depends on what you want to learn about Java. If you're hoping to learn how to program in the Java language, Learning Java can be a great reference tool, but I wouldn't want it to be the only book I had on the subject.

Being a moderately experienced procedural programmer, I was able to learn much about object-oriented programming by reading Learning Java. Although the book does a great job of explaining each part of the Java language and how it can be used, there are no exercises to perform, problems to solve, or case studies to follow. The reader is never asked to put his learning to the test, or to figure out how to add functionality to an existing program. The best you can do is type in or download some example code that helps visualize many of the concepts presented in the book, but it's only copy-and-paste -- there is no problem-solving process involved. Learning Java will indeed help you learn Java theory, but it won't help you learn how to write Java programs. For that reason, I found the title misleading and the book a little disappointing.

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Copyright 2005 Jem Matzan.