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Re: Java Text Book

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Steve wrote:
> Lew wrote:
>> Steve wrote:
>> _Thinking in Java_ is a deeply flawed textbook for learning Java.
> 
> I haven't read that book in over a decade.  What do you remember about 
> it that made your decide that it is a deeply flawed book ( aside from 
> being out of date in 2013 ) ?

I was wrong about "deeply". I remembered it worse, perhaps. I liked it a 
lot when I first read it. I came to think later that it wasn't really a "think 
in Java" book, but more of an overly-detailed exploration of the corners 
of the Java spec. I think I got spoiled by _Effective Java_ by Joshua Bloch and 
became disaffected with Eckel.

The variable names are terse, his Swing examples don't run on the EDT (that 
just might be a function of how out of date the book is, though),  he eschews 
checked exceptions, and he doesn't really discuss how to use the API. It seems 
more like he just wants to illustrate the JLS.

I glanced through it again to answer this question. It isn't really horrid. I did run 
into some questionable attitudes attributed to Eckel, though. He hates checked 
exceptions and he completely excoriates generics erasure. Okay, maybe those 
are controversial areas of Java, but to claim "thinking in" Java one should adopt 
the mindset.

-- 
Lew

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Java Text Book Steve <tinker123@gmail.com> - 2013-01-09 17:18 -0500
  Re: Java Text Book Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-09 14:55 -0800
    Re: Java Text Book Steve <tinker123@gmail.com> - 2013-01-11 09:08 -0500
      Re: Java Text Book Lew <lewbloch@gmail.com> - 2013-01-11 11:41 -0800
  Re: Java Text Book markspace <markspace@nospam.nospam> - 2013-01-09 15:36 -0800
    Re: Java Text Book Steve <tinker123@gmail.com> - 2013-01-11 09:09 -0500
      Re: Java Text Book Roedy Green <see_website@mindprod.com.invalid> - 2013-01-11 08:38 -0800

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