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There is a flood of 'beginning Java' titles on the market. Also there are now more titles covering a certain aspect, i.e. any cutting-edge field of Java development. Such as this one, proclaiming on its cover that the reader will 'master the creation of Java databases'. I say it immediately. If you are in this books target group, a Java programmer with or without SQL-knowledge, wanting an 'in depth coverage of ODBC, SQL and database security' (cover text), don't consider buying this. More than two thirds of it consists of code listings with rare explanations.

The SQL chapter offers no more substance than an introductory lesson in a database-course and it ends with

..the possibilities with SQL exceed the relatively few examples shown in this chapter. ...now our discussion of SQL is complete. If you are interested in learning more about SQL, I recommend that you check out our book's website. (!) Overall, the authors' idea of a chapter seems to be well formatted but sparely commented code listings.

Chapters without such listings are rare and short to say the least. That about Java and Database security is only 5 pages long! (So much for 'in- depth coverage') I tried hard to find something positive. At last, the final 'Java Language' chapter featured a useful visual guide to the language fundamentals. However, this part of the book is finished in an abrupt fashion.

Make sure you understand the difference between the parse*() methods and the valueof() methods.Followed by a three-line 'explanation' and a very white page...

I can best describe this title as a pamphlet for the JDBC, with tons of code added on to wade through. The sad thing is, I am convinced the authors know their subject and should do better.