Java: A Beginner's Guide, Eighth Edition 8th Edition, Kindle Edition

In the book, the author claims "No previous programming experience required". I have absolutely zero experience in programming but this book fails to deliver on this claim. On the "first simple program" I am left clueless. The author states "1. Enter the program, 2. Compile the program, 3. Run the program". However, the author fails to be EXPLICIT. I managed to install the JDK by watching a YouTube video because the book is no help on this one. If you have some experience or training in programming this book will probably be somewhat easy to follow. But for those like me with absolutely "No previous programming experience" this book fails at the start. As a former teacher myself, I understand that for people with zero knowledge or skills you have to be EXPLICIT in every sense of the word to be effective in the transfer of knowledge and/or skills. Particularly if it involves a serious subject matter. The author is perhaps a great programmer, but he's not a great teacher. For those like me, it's best to consider either a classroom setting or the Dummies series of books.

Like many Java textbooks, the book is not really written for the non-programmer. (That does not mean it can't be used as a text in a class for beginners-- but the students would have to rely on faculty lectures to provide the "how-to-program" basics.) Its strengths are its clarity and its comprehensiveness in topic coverage. There are a couple of interesting aspects that should be noted.(1) The book has very little coverage of the API and Core libraries, except where a specific topic (like GUI or Multi-threading or I/O) require. For example, unlike most texts, there is no mention of ArrayList. The focus is on the language, not the library.(2) Related to this point is the handling of i/o. The Scanner class is absent from the book. Since much of early programming courses involve token-oriented i/o, this could pose a compatibility challenge for an instructor seeking to adopt the text. At the same time, the treatment of Streams and binary data is excellent... but naturally treated late in the book. There are plenty of justifications one could make for this approach; but it is something that should be kept in mind.

This book is capable of teaching anyone that really has the desire to learn. I like that it’s to the point without all the unnecessary jokes and story time. Too many books are filled with excess chat chit. Very easy to follow.

I originally bought this book for my 16 year old son who was interested in learning more Java and programming in general, but after this book he seems to have lost all interest in Java. He claimed the book was very confusing at times and didn't do the best job at explaining certain concepts or have many exercises in order for him to understand Java better. After taking a look at it myself, this should not be considered a "Beginner's Guide." Look elsewhere for a programming book.

As a hobbyist that dabbled in several other computer languages, I wanted to give Java try. This book was highly recommended online so I went ahead and purchased it. It took me about two weeks to work through the labs in the book and was pleasantly surprised that the author's source code (available online) all worked correctly.The only issues I had were unrelated to the book:1. Getting the Java path set up to use the javac & java commands. Took a little googling but got that all set.2. Used Visual Studio Code for my development environment. Ran into some weird issues using that but they too were resolved by a little googling.Neither issue was related to the book itself.The examples are all pretty clear cut and show the concepts without getting too overlong on the code.Excellent book, highly recommend it!

Just so you know, this is the same exact book and text from four editions ago, with only an added chapter. At many times, it seems like the author is interested in creating text space more than teaching concepts. SOME of the examples are good, but most seem unnecessarily complicated. Many components of the examples are unexplained until MUCH later in the book. He also tends to spend disproportionate time covering simple ideas over the more complex. For example "Type Inferencing," which I discovered and figured out by accident, takes up 6 pages! Meanwhile the "args parameter" and "command line arguments," both take up barely one page! The book is also notorious for taking up pages upon pages for coding examples, which almost always add on a concept to one just learned the page before. Why not teach a new concept in isolation at first? Maybe it's just me, but this style of teaching makes it more difficult to learn. Lastly, I would point out the questionability of the authors credibility, (mabye do a quick wiki search) but it appears this individual is more of an accomplished book writer over coder, among other things......You may be able to recite concepts well after reading this book, but you will not be great at coding Java.

This book is not for inexperienced programmers as the title leads one to believe. The first few chapters do cover elementary topics, but it quickly transitions into highly advanced topics in programming. If you are new to the field of computer science, as I was when I purchased this book, then I suggest you look elsewhere.

Very good introduction to Java and its newest features. This is not a book for learning how to program or learning about the object oriented paradigm. It covers a wide range of basic topics from fundamentals, data types, control statements, abstract data types and exceptions. It also covers some more advanced topics as I/O, multithreading, generics, lambda expressions and modules. For the most of it, the book is very clear and uses small code examples to illustrate. Unfortunately, most advanced topics show impractical or just dumb examples that 'work' but don't really show how to take advantage of the features. Read it if you need to catch up with the newest Java features. Keep in mind Java will continue updating every six months, so this book is already outdated.

This book is perfect for beginners in the language... ...or those, like me, who were left with a thousand "what is..." and "why is..." questions following a so-called introductory course.This book is cleanly organised into chapters. I would recommend limiting yourself to no more than one chapter per day. Each chapter deals with some fundamentals that get glossed-over on places like StackOverflow, leaving you with the feeling that, yes, you do now have a basic grasp of Java.It is well written and you have the added assurance of it being an Oracle book. Java is not a language you can jump into feet-first without a lot of pain. This book should be required reading on all university Introduction to Programming courses as it's the perfect size for a 30-credit course.

I have no experience in the tech field. The last time I did anything technology related was for my GCSE’s in Information Computer Technology which I got grade:’C’ . This is how much of a novice I am. I hope that gives you some insight into what I’m about to say. This book talks about being “beginner friendly” however I don’t think the authors understand what the word beginner means. The only way I can understand what’s going on, is by finding professional in the tech industry on Bumble Bizz, who are helping me understand the concepts. I’m also using YouTube videos on Java also. It’s a great book, but you also need a great deal of help navigating it. Even something as simple as ‘compiling the program’ isn’t explained well. If you own a Mac you’re told to find how to ‘specify the path’ yourself. Away from the book. How can an absolute beginner be expected to know that??

I have some experience in programming in C back in the late 90’s and have always wanted to learn an object oriented language but never had the the time or motivation until now. I’m not a professional coder just a hobbyist.I bought the “Head first Java” and found it a little confusing and which could do with an update.“Java a beginners guide” is written in a more additional manner. Which I actually find much easier to understand (And I’m dyslexic)

A good book that is certainly helping me learn Java, 4 instead of 5 stars is only because it's a little complex at times when using as a reference.Doing the walkthroughs is definitely beneficial and as my own understanding improves the book will prove to be an invaluable aide

Found this book very easy to read without drowning the reader in jargon. Unfortunately it has a massive hole. No chapters on Collections or Streams is very disappointing. Apart from that a very good book but I'll have to buy another to cover the missing topics