Thread: Good Java book for beginner?

Hi. I recently started learning Java and worked my way through the book "Learning Programming with Java for Dummies" by Barry Burd. It was a pretty decent book for learning programming basics, but it seemed to gloss over the topics of objects and classes. I would like to find a book that is easy to understand for a beginner programmer (no previous experience) , but that goes all the way through advanced topics of Java. Can anyone recommend a book like this?

I've found that "Building Java Programs: A back to the basics approach" by Reges and Stepp has been quite helpful. I'm charging through it now, and I'm getting a very deep understanding of everything. It's very clear, and very detailed. It's designed for a classroom, which is the kind of structure that I need. Also, they have very helpful videos. I bought it because it had good ratings. So far, so good. Though it ain't cheap...

Head First: Java

The 'Dummies' series are just too light to be of much help.

Rather go for a comprehensive text book as used in college/university.

Most will be good in one area and bad in another. They often jump ahead quite fast by the time you get to the 7th or 8th chapter.

Recent ones I've glanced at are:
Big Java : late objects / Cay Horstmann (Compatible with Java 5, 6, & 7)

JAVA PROGRAMMING
FROM PROBLEM ANALYSIS TO PROGRAM DESIGN
5th EDITION
D.S. MALIK

"Java Hoy to Program" Deitel and Deitel. That's the best book, i think. Also you can find some very good information in "Thinking in Java". Good luck

Is there any book which explains all the functions in JAVA and Swing in details with examples to understand....?'

Nearly all good text books have a chapter on Swing and GUIs in general. Some introduce it early, some later. I wouldn't get worked up about the GUI side until much later.

JavaFX is going to replace Swing in Java 8 or so anyway.

Concentrate on using algorithms to write Java code to solve problems. Know your way around the Java 7 API as well.

Folks,

Here are the two best books for Java beginners (but not beginner in programming):

Head First Java, 2nd edition

Thinking in Java, 4th edition

Both include Swing chapter.

The Head First Books are not serious. Version 2 is quite old now, covering Java 1.5 and have yet to be updated. Same with Thinking in Java (2006). That's a much better book, but old now.

I would also check out:
Introduction to Java Programming, Brief Version, Ninth Edition (Y. Daniel Liang)
Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version, Ninth Edition (Y. Daniel Liang)

Originally Posted by Starstreak

The Head First Books are not serious.

I agree with this, but there isn't a better series for someone wanting to break into a new technology or start programming in general. It starts basic and has fun with it. I wish i had these when i was in college.

As a beginner to Java, I can recommend this: Java Actually: A First Course in Programming - Khalid Azim Mughal, Torill Hamre, Rolf W. Rasmussen - Google Bøker

I don't know if its easy to get the English version. I have the Norwegian version myself, and the tasks are fun, although one may find the text itself a bit confusing if you're new to programming in general.

Originally Posted by Starstreak

The Head First Books are not serious. Version 2 is quite old now, covering Java 1.5 and have yet to be updated. Same with Thinking in Java (2006). That's a much better book, but old now.

I would also check out:
Introduction to Java Programming, Brief Version, Ninth Edition (Y. Daniel Liang)
Introduction to Java Programming, Comprehensive Version, Ninth Edition (Y. Daniel Liang)

Yes, both Head First Java and Thinking in Java are quite old, but the Java language hasn't changed very much since version 1.5, so readers can still be beneficial from these books.

Remember these books for beginners in Java (not in general programming). So if ones are new in general programming, find other books.