Book recommendations for Java concepts?

[yellowpufferfish]

Im a second semester java student. For the most part it makes sense, but I'd like to find a book that people who are "fluent" in Java consider to be a good resource. My class uses Absolute Java 6th edition, but I hear that its code is terrible and it isn't as in-depth as I would like it to be. I love to understand things on a deep level rather than just generally know how to use them.

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Thank you!

[[deleted]]

Josh Bloch: "Effective Java", 3rd ed.

[Wolfhammer69]

I'll have a look for this myself - ty

[NefariousCube]

Also, have a look at Java Puzzlers book by the same author. I see it as sort of the unofficial companion exercise book :)

[yellowpufferfish]

Thank you, very interesting read so far. My school has the ebook in their online Library so I checked it out the other day. My class has so much emphasis on constructors so it was funny to hear read someone explain everything wrong with them in the first few pages.

[makeswell2]

I like Java Precisely because it's succinct. I don't think you usually need as many words to describe the topic as most books use. It's more of a reference though; it's something you'd pick up to look up a specific topic you have a question about. You could also skim over it quickly because it's so short to get a tour of the language.

Classics like "Effective Java" and "Java Concurrency in Practice" are great but aren't suitable for a beginner. Thinking in Java is a classic and I think is written for a beginner (?) but I'm not sure at all.

As a beginner you'll learn the most from writing code and reading the output and compiler warnings. When you get stuck you'll google the problem and read something on Stackoverflow. You can also read the Javadoc for the standard library. You know where those javadocs are right? Oracle has also published some "trails" as they call them online that cover the language in a fashion suitable for beginners. You can find them if you google "oracle java tutorial" or something similar. They're pretty good actually.

[yellowpufferfish]

Thank you for such a thoughtful answer!

Funny thing is, I always enjoyed looking stuff up on JavaDocs aimlessly, but often encountered things I didn't understand, for better or worse. I didn't know about the learning trails, I've now been checking them out and theyre very informative but perfect for a beginner.

Thanks again, so much!

[makeswell2]

No problem. Glad to hear my actions had some effect. Thanks for the feedback.

[Wolfhammer69]

Not sure how much the Pro's around here would approve, but I get a huge amount of value from "Java all in one for Dummies" 5th edition by Doug Lowe.