Customer Reviews
Refers to information that does not exist - By: Dean, 19 Sep 2008 
On the second chapterin this book it refers to information you must download to be able to use the remainder of the book. It has links to the information that do not work & searching for the information produces no clear result. The book is a failure & has wasted a lot of my precious time.
An Excellent Introduction to Java - By: Ian Bates, 12 Feb 2007 
I am a mature University student studying Web Development & Programming.I needed a gentle introduction to Java, & this book has provided just that.It takes the reader by the hand & introduces all of the basic conceptsin an informative & uncomplicated manner (not an easy task).
The author is also very accesible.I had a problem with some code & he responded to my email within hours.(He pointed me to a posting on his Weblog which did just the trick).
I approached Java with some trepidation but thanks to Mr Burd I am now feeling very confident about tackling the more complicated issues.
I am also more than holding my own at University.I can`t thank the author enough.
An introduction to Java that I would highly recommend to anyone.
A good starter book for Java - By: Mr. B. M. Taylor, 23 Oct 2006 This book really does start with the basics, so if you already know a bit about programming it will possibly be too slow - However, if like me you need a refresher (after a 15 year break) or really are new to programming this is a good launch pad - don't be too disappointed that it does not leap straight into Windows, Icons, Mice, & Pointers & there are lots of text examples. It does get the message across very well.
A well written introduction to the Java language - By: Sara, 17 Sep 2006 
I recently finished my MSc course, which involved extensive programming. When I began the course I didn't have a clue about what a program was & what the Java language was all about. To be honest I was never really a computer person. I purchased this book as I had to understand everything about Java programming. It provided a good introduction to the language & explained parts of a program really well. The book moved at a good pace introducing, classes, methods & instances. Before I knew it, I was programmingin Java with confidence.
Since Java was the first hard core object orientated language I learnt, it became very easy for me to programin other languages such as C, C++, Python, Perl (a scripting language), Visual Basic & Fortran. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the language but once you grasp the basics, it would be useful to purchase Java 5.0 Illumintaed by Anderson & Franceschi as it provides advanced features of the language. Overall, it's worth the money!
EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION - By: , 15 Sep 2005 This book is aimed at someone who is keen to learn programming, but who hasn't had much exposure to programming before (I had learnt a little BASIC as a schoolboy & that was it). Even for me, it seemed very simple, & I was a little impatient at first & nearly gave up after a few chapters because it was going on & on about very simple things you could do with numbers, etc. But I'm so glad that I read through to the end - as it started to make sense of Object Oriented Programming, which is not so easy to understand. I had been reading it alongside "Sams Teach Yourself Java 2in 24 Hours", & this really emphasised how well this book was written. The Sams book covered very similar ground, but it was dry theory with examples that were not clearly explained. In this book, by contrast, the writer really seems to have at heart the intention to HELP the reader understand what is going on, & so every example is followed by a very simple explanation of what is happening. Sometimes it feels too simple, but this is FAR, FAR better than not providing enough explanation. You feel through this book that you are being guided & that nothing will be presented that is beyond your ability to understand. Tomorrow I'm going to get his follow-up book, which I hope will be as helpfulin taking the next step.
