The revised SAMS Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 Days provides a solid tutorial for the major aspects of the Java 2 platform. This intelligently presented book is suitable for the new or intermediate Java programmer who wants to learn the latest Java features quickly.

The first week looks at Java platform basics, including Java's virtual machine and language fundamentals (such as data types, variables, and flow control statements). The ins and outs of object design, including inheritance and overloading methods and AWT applet programming come next. (For browser compatibility, the authors rely on JDK 1.02 functionality.) After a quick look at graphics programming (including the new Java 2D API), the authors explore a variety of options for animation, including double-buffering. They finish this group of lessons with information on basic AWT component programming, including short examples using AWT controls.

By the third week of lessons, the book covers ad hoc topics, including a clear explanation of Java packages (and exactly what those public, protected, and private keywords mean). A section on Java streams lays the groundwork for simple Internet programming (specifically, downloading a URL). Several chapters on the new Swing interface classes explore the simpler Swing components, such as images, sliders, and scrollbars (though advanced controls, such as table and trees, are not covered).

A bonus section--seven days of lessons beyond SAMS's standard three-week format--testifies to the richness of the Java 2 platform. Here the authors cover such useful Java topics as JDK command-line tools, signed Java applets, JavaBeans, and JDBC database programming. With its comprehensible format and often witty writing style, this text delivers an appealing introduction to some of the best of today's Java. --Richard Dragan

FROM THE PUBLISHER