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After an introduction to Java and important issues (portability, APIs The JVm, performance, etc.) there is a discussion (Chapter two) of OO programming concepts covering abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, etc. I would not advise readers experienced in C++, Smalltalk, etc. to skip this because much of the Java class syntax is outlined and keywords defined (public, protected, private, final, static, etc.) Chapters three to eleven then cover the Java language in detail building up from basics (types, expressions, etc.) to exception handling, treads, etc. To support the discussion there are plenty of diagrams and sample code. Chapter six then reinforces the basics with a fairly complex case study (the code may be obtained from the CD and used with the discussion in the text). Following chapters then describe applets, security, APIs, the AWT, graphics programming, the JFC and Swing, graphics programming, I/O and networking. Each chapter ends with Light Relief (humorous anecdotes, etc.) and several have exercises. Throughout the text alternative techniques are presented and discussed, e.g. when implementing event handlers the use of inner classes, anonymous classes, adapter classes, etc. are compared.

The book is an excellent easy to read introduction to Java and its APIs. It does concentrate on general-purpose programming and provides very brief coverage of many APIs (e.g. networking in 33 pages) and the system developer would soon require texts on advanced or specialist features. Highly recommended!