I haven't gotten through the entire book as yet. I'm on page 300 or so. What I've read so far has been quite good, and I've picked up several new things about Java. The only negative thing I would say about this book is that once or twice, there have been ideas presented where the author (in my opinion) assumed more Java or OO knowledge than a beginner might have. But, thanks to some other Java resources I have (co-workers), these problems were quickly overcome.

Overall, a great book for beginners.

Easy to read and understand. Downloading the lessons for and using the IDE's could use a little bit more coverage.

What a weird book. I don't program Java, have never been but I've got quite a few years of C++ and C# under my belt. We needed to use some Java-only open source libraries for a project at work, so I figured having a Java reference book would be handy: after all, it can't be 100% identical to C# as they say, right?

Well, this book couldn't fulfill even this modest role: it covers very little, but wastes nearly 6 pounds of dead trees to do it. It takes two pages to explain how to assign a number to a variable. The author uses Windows (!) as a platform of choice and the word "DOS" pops up many times, over and over. It even contains section that teaches you how to use DOS commands like "dir", "copy" and "cd". I am not kidding or exaggerating.

I would understand if it was marketed to teenagers who want to start programming in something, but a book of such shocking size and wall penetrating power can't be possibly aimed at that audience: if someone needs 2 pages explaining the "magic of assigning a value to a variable", one's probably too young to lift this book off the floor.

I covered first 225 pages without seeing any useful information there: every topic is explained in such a shallow manner, that it could be compared to a common-sense knowledge of Java of someone (like me) who never wrote a line of code, but heard other people talk about the language. The book, like many others, uses a sample project that a reader takes on in the beginning and keeps improving upon as he learns new material, but guess what - this book uses a number multiplying program for that purpose: that's right - read two numbers from a console, multiply, print out, repeat.

I am speechless. This is the first time in my life I had to return a book. Yes, Java isn't supposed to be a brain grinder and I expected a super-easy read, but this book is beyond "easy", it redefines an "easy read" by insulting your intelligence, it's that dumb. Heck, one of the exercises calls for documenting a code written for the previous exercise!

It says $52 on the cover, Amazon sells it for $32 and it's available used for about $14 - isn't that telling you something?

I am very satisfied with whole amazon-purchasing experience, as always ! Book was shipped in solid protecting box and received on time. I would like to say thank you to amazon staff for doing high quality work.

I found the book to be excellent and much easier to understand than many other java text sold today. The book teaches the basics very well and is a solid foundation for anyone who wants to learn basic java programing skills in days instead of weeks or months. The expansions are clear and the examples are well thought out.

LG

This is a great book for both training and reference. I was a VB6 programmer and needed to get into Java and object oriented programming for work. I read this book about 3/4 of the way through from page one and did all of the exercises after each chapter. The book is split so that the left side facing page is narrative description and the right side facing page is bullet points. This is great in that it allows you to read on the topics you don't know and just use the bullet points for the stuff you do know. This is also nice for going back to something for reference while working on a program. I plan to finish reading the remainder of the book within the next couple weeks.

As a UNIX/C/C++/python programmer, this book has allowed me entrance into the Java world. I went to the Java Conference and was overwhelmed by all the choices, but this book allows learning of the different methods and how to put Java together. I am still in about the fifth chapter so I am not sure if it suitable for an advanced Java programmer, but it is easy for a beginning Java programmer to follow. I heartily recommend this book. It also is accurate and the programs actually work (which is not always the case with a programming book....)

There have been a number of books and tutorials written about Java. The gold standard for me has always been "Learning Java" by Patrick Niemeyer and Johnathan Knudsen (O'Reilly & Associates). I have had a number of new programmers, enthusiasts, and members of the JUG tell me it is information overload. The book does contain a lot of information in its 828 page heft. As a result, I have been looking for a book just for beginners. I have found it.

I just completed reviewing Murach's Java SE 6. It is a very good resource for learning Java. This book does an excellent job of providing a firm basis for understanding the technology. The book is clearly and concisely written. The book is divided into 5 major sections which cover the essential Java skills to advanced topics on data access programming using XML and JDBC.

The teaching style is very clever. It typically takes the form of a page of information with facing page with examples. I found this to be very important in getting sometimes difficult points across. I typically take the "Show me the code" philosophy, and this style works for me.

The other technique that used is to convey a purpose for learning Java. This is done by using the various topics as building blocks to create an application. The final result is a completed application at the end of the book. It encompasses the lessons learned, and gives the new programmer a sense of accomplishment with a completed functional application at the end of the book. I love it.

I have found that people learn better with functional code examples. This book is replete with them. One of my greatest annoyances is to have code samples which do not work. This clouds the ability to learn because it forces the beginning programmer to question their abilities. The shroud of uncertainty should not be because the gold standard code is incorrect. I am pleased to note that I tried a number of code examples and they all worked.

My favorite section is Data access programming with Java. Chapter 20 covers working with XML. This is a must for any programmer. XML is the new black, and anything that can help you learn this important technology is a must. In chapter 20, the topic of StAX is covered. This is the best simplified example of using StAX I have seen. After reading the information, and performing the examples, I felt I had a better understanding of this technology.

I only have a few minor negative points to mention: the title is a little misleading. The majority of the information in the book really details Java SE 5 enhancements with two notable exceptions: StAX and an introduction to Derby (Java DB).

My overall impression is that the book is an outstanding resource for new and seasoned programmers. This is a great book to add to the reference shelf.

I think this book is AMAZING. This is my 3rd Java book and I am impressed at every angle.

The layout is straight forward, easy to navigate, compact and to the point, and very professional. There isn't all the fluff that is associated with most beginner books (Heads Up series especially) and you will be learning the core PLUS writing your own miniprograms nearly from the start.

If you want to get straight to the point and learn realworld Java, this is the book for you. If you want a more holding-your-hand style of howto (which is just fine if you are starting a new language), look elsewhere.

This is a great book at a great price. I look forward to many more books from this author!

This book provides a cornucopeia of subjects that most intro to Java books briefly touch on, such as threading, setting up the Java environment on the windows pc,and the tutorials and instructions on using the various Java IDE's. I found these tutorials concise and easier to follow than on the Java web site.

As always, Murach's treatment of OOP concepts impressed me. By displaying these concepts in a real-world application it reinforces your learning heads, leaps, bounds and miles over OOP object models of cats, widgets, etc.

Best of all the code examples work! I can tell you how about the frustration of typing a 2-page code sample to realize, oops,the code sample doesn't work.

The main area the book failed to meet expectations revolved around the weakness of its database section. Providing only a command line version of the database application reduced my rating from 5 to 4.

This book is really informative, a great reference and good for learning too. I bought it because it's a required text for a Java course I'm taking and it's brilliant.

The one thing I can say is the question at the end of the chapter are sometimes vague. That's why I didn't give this book a 5 star rating. At times I'm left reading and rereading a question for 10 minutes before I get an inkling what they're talking about.

A complete and 'user friendly' instruction manual, "Murach's Java SE 6" is a core textbook that allows the reader to learn the kinds of real-world Java skills they will need in their daily job, and master these skills at their own pace. An 'object-oriented' instructional, "Murach's Java SE 6" will teach the Java student the practical use of business classes, inheritance, and interfaces. As a GUI programming manual, "Murach's Java SE 6" explains how to develop graphical user interfaces which will efficiently handle events and validate data. In the area of data-access, "Murach's Java SE 6" takes the Java student through a step-by-step process on how to develop 3-tier, object-oriented, database applications on a professional level. An illustrated, methodical, comprehensive instruction manual that will prove invaluable for the novice and experienced Java user alike, "Murach's Java SE 6" is a substantial and very strongly recommended student instructional manual and professional reference guide for the Java user.

This book seems to cover a lot of hidden material that other Java books only mention briefly if at all. Even other Java books purchased from here on Amazon. Good so far.

There are probably a couple of hundred changes and improvements that have been included in the new release of Java. The problem is that after three or four releases, the new product additions bring a decreasing amount of utility to the package. By version 3 or 4 the stuff that we really need is there.

Java 6 has two additions that fall into my definition of really nice new things. One, is that Java continues to get faster as new editions come out. There's nothing you have to do to make it run faster so there isn't much said about this in the book.

The second new thing is that Java now incorporates an integral database. It's a relatively new database called Derby. This is a small database, written entirely in Java as part of the Apache project. In this book there is a lengthy chapter, some 32 pages, covering the use of the database from Java. This book does not include a discussion of Derby SQL, that will have to be another book. [Note: Derby is the same product as IBM's Cloudscape database.]

This book is a general introductory book to Java it starts with downloading the software from Sun and carries it forth to rather complex programming. It is, as is standard with the Murach books, very professionally done, tightly edited, complete, and probably the best book on the subject.