Amber Benson Book:

		List Price: $49.99		Publisher: Que Salesrank: 3114427
		Our Price: $3.49
		Used Price: $0.59
		Media: Paperback

Editorial Review:
A guide for C users compares HTML to Java, explains the Java language, tours the HotJava browser, and covers such topics as Object Oriented concepts, using Java with C, networking, and security. Original. (Advanced).

Description of Special Edition Using Java (Special Edition Using):
It seems like every Java book these days claims to be the ultimate resource on the language. The second edition of Special Edition Using Java is a 1,100-plus-page tome that may actually live up to that billing. The book covers not just Java fundamentals but a smorgasbord of advanced topics such as the JDK 1.1 API, server-side Java, the JDBC (Java database connectivity) libraries, and security--even the internal structure of Java class files, right down to meanings of individual Java bytecodes (anyone want to write a compiler?). This book serves both as an exhaustive reference and a friendly mid-level introduction to the hottest programming language around.

Special Edition Using Java (Special Edition Using) Reviews:
One massive tome - but the standards keep changing
1997-07-16 - This book is nothing if not large. This was QUEs attempt to capture the entire spectrum of JAVA and make it easy to understand (a task that they accomplished) but then the standards changed again. This is still a great book for learning Java; but, you will have to move on to other resources for news on the updates

Good JDK 1.0.2 reference. JDK 1.1 coverage is limited.
1997-04-16 - "Special Edition Using Java, Second Edition" is an excellent reference to JDK 1.0.2. However, today (April 15), only a month and a half after being billed as "Computer Programming Expert Editor's Recommended Book, 03/01/97", it is a dated reference and the cover claims of JDK 1.1 coverage fall short--they are preliminary and peripheral to primary Java programming topics. For example, there is no coverage of the major changes in the Java event model of JDK 1.1, which permeate almost every application. I recommend waiting for better JDK 1.1 coverage, hopefully in Joseph Weber's new version, "Special Edition Using Java 1.1" which has not yet been released, but for which Amazon is taking orders today

Too many errors
1997-03-18 - This book has more errors than should ever be allowed in a professional product. There are typo's in both text and examples. The CD does not contain the source code from the book and I vote this the worst source ever of any computer based information I have found to date. It has left me very unsure of the publishers (QUE) standards and I may never purchase another QUE book again. I simply do not trust them. Spend your hard earned money on a different choice

SPECIAL EDITION JAVA DEFINITELY WORTH LOOKING AT!
1997-01-04 -

With all the hoopla flying around right now about Java, I decided I had to take a look at the language. I had been doing my writing in C/C++, but the thought of writing ONE program to work on many platforms won me over. I didn't know much about the language, but after my purchase of Special Edition Using Java, that has changed.

I know that may sound a bit ridiculous, but the book packs everything a beginner needs to know into a little over 850 pages.

How is this book different from the rest? To be honest, I can't tell you as this is the first one I've purchased for Java, but the book IS READABLE. I repeat, the BOOK IS READABLE. It contains a lot of programming jargon, but a gloassary in the back helps with it. The book starts off giving a short, but information packed history of how Java came about. It gives in depth information on various Java programming environments available and Java compilers other than Sun's JDK. It has a CD containing the the JDK from Sun, although it is slightly out of date (the newest as of this writing being the JDK v1.1 beta). It does, however, give information on where and how to get the JDK plus complete installation instructions. The book never centers itself around one platform, always showing various techniques from both Windows and Macintosh systems. It also gives a very in depth discussion on the security pro's and con's in Java (the pro's obviously winning out on this one!). Not only does it give great coverage to writing applets, but once you feel confortable with this, you can go on to writing complete Java applications! The CD-ROM included is the Java-SIG CD-ROM with lots of applet source code including code for Guestbooks and more! It also includes some chapters from some of Que's other books in writing HTML code and more!

IN BRIEF: This book is excellent if you are willing to spend some time reading before jumping right into Java. If you have a basic understanding of C/C++, this book is for you! If not, you may find yourself lost at times. I hadn't used object-oriented programming and the book explained it to me very well. I had, however, used C/C++ before. Just another book in Que's excellent line of titles