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Title: Java Pitfalls: Time-Saving Solutions and Workarounds to Improve Programs by Michael C. Daconta, Eric Monk, J. Paul Keller, Keith Bohnenberger ISBN: 0471361747 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 20 April, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.94
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent and practical guide for all Java developers
Comment: I've reviewed quite a few Java books about improving the attributes of Java software. Some concentrate on improving the design, others the robustness of software or the performance. While they usually start out promising, by the end of the book you're left with a good understanding of theory but little practical skills. Java Pitfalls : Time-Saving Solutions and Workarounds to Improve Programs, breaks free of that mould, by providing a wealth of techniques and code that has real practical application. The title does not do it justice, however. Not only does the book show you how to improve programs, the advice contained within also saves you time, frustration, and effort.
After reading through even a few pages of tips within the book, you understand that the advice isn't dry theory, but practical advice gained from real-life problems that Java developers face. Michael Daconta, and his co-authors, offer warnings gained from the trenches of software development using Java.
The book is divided neatly into eight sections, covering different aspects of Java programming. A wide range of areas are covered, from the obligatory Java language syntax, to more fun topics like graphical user interfaces (using AWT and Swing), the utilities package and collections, input and output (I/O), and even improving Java performance. The one significant area lacking from the book, in my opinion, is a section on network programming pitfalls, and perhaps other advanced topics like databases. These areas are fraught with pitfalls for the unwary. However, for readers not involved with such areas, this is a moot point, and it leaves more room for other tips.
There are a total of 50 individual pieces of advice, and each is packed full of detailed code examples. Whether you're a Java newbie, or an experienced Java developer looking to improve your coding and reduce the frustration and time of software development, Java Pitfalls is an ideal addition to your book collection. With the usefulness of this advice, you'll probably find it taking a place on your desk though, rather than the bookshelf. -- David Reilly, reviewed for the Java Coffee Break
Rating: 5
Summary: Experienced to Advanced, this book is a must-have!
Comment: I can not say enough good things about Java Pitfalls. I actually recieved this book as a gift and was overwhemingly surprised with the amount of applicable knowledge that this book provided me almost immediately after I started reading it.
The premise of Java Pitfalls is primarily to help those who are familiar with the langauge and have had some experience producing applications in Java. As with all programming languages, there are always better, more efficient ways to do things. Some are obvious and usually cross many languages, and some are not so obvious and are very language-specific.
Java Pitfalls points out a lot of common mistakes made in Java development as well as providing optimization and means of producing much cleaner code that runs faster and uses less memory.
The examples are very thorough and the book is very concise in its reasoning for why certain ways of implementing Java are faster than others, complete with benchmark results comparing the common ways of implementing solutions to their more optimal solutions. The book doesn't just show you how to write code more efficiently, it also explains to you why some methods are better than others.
Again, I can't say enough about this book. It's like having a group of experienced Java engineers sittings beside you as your program. A great book all around.
Rating: 3
Summary: Average At Best
Comment: Java Pitfalls is an average book that junior level Java developer may find useful. The book is divided into several sections, with each section containing one or more ideas, tips, advice, pitfalls, "what not to do," etc. Java Pitfall is a fairly dry read and is not as solid as other books on the market that follow a similar style (think Practical Java by Peter Haggar and Effective C++ by Meyers).
Java Pitfalls covers the obvious and mundane (variable scope, how to compare strings, and try/catch/finally), GUI topics, and a handful of interesting areas such as thread synchronization, deadlocks, and string concatenation inside of loops. Junior developers should find some of the topics useful, but experienced developers will find much of the book lacking - perhaps worth a cursory glance at best. With that said, maybe the book should be marketed to novice developers because my overall criticism of the book is that it is not useful book for experienced Java developers. There is always a place for introductory Java books, but Java Pitfalls does nothing to excel and stand out from an otherwise already crowded retail bookshelf.
The most disappoint aspect of this title for me is the GUI coverage - there is too much! Of the 322 pages, over 119 pages (a third of the book) are dedicated to GUI topics. My personal opinion is that GUI topics should have been relegated to another title because the authors could not dedicate enough space to be really useful for AWT and Swing developers. At the same time the included material is worthless for the majority of Java developers that work with some derivative of the J2EE architecture (J2EE is not the focus of the title, but I think the criticism is fair).
I found a few topics in Java Pitfalls interesting and worth reading, but most of the topics are fairly lightweight for anyone that is moderately experienced with the Java language. I cannot help but think that novice developers will find useful tips and practices within the pages of Java Pitfalls, but there are much better Java books on the market, which serve the same purpose. Java Pitfalls is not a book that I will keep handy in my day-to-day use, and I doubt that it will ever show up in my rotation of references that I turn to when I am stumped and need to research an issue. There too many good books on the market for me to recommend a title as average as Java Pitfalls.
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Title: More Java Pitfalls: 50 New Time-Saving Solutions and Workarounds by Michael C. Daconta, Kevin T. Smith, Donald Avondolio, W. Clay Richardson, Donald Avondolio ISBN: 0471237515 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: 03 February, 2003 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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Title: Object-Oriented Software Design and Construction With Java: Web Enhanced by Dennis Kafura ISBN: 013011264X Publisher: Prentice Hall College Div Pub. Date: 15 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $53.00 |
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Title: Effective Java Programming Language Guide by Joshua Bloch ISBN: 0201310058 Publisher: Addison Wesley Professional Pub. Date: 05 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $39.99 |
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Title: Applying UML and Patterns: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design and the Unified Process (2nd Edition) by Craig Larman ISBN: 0130925691 Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR Pub. Date: 13 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $52.00 |
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Title: Core J2EE Patterns: Best Practices and Design Strategies by Deepak Alur, John Crupi, Dan Malks ISBN: 0130648841 Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $44.99 |
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