Review by Billy Barron

Update for 2nd edition: Rogers Cadenhead replaced Charles L. Perkins as one of the primary authors. It just so happens that I went to high school with Rogers and he has attended some JavaMUG meetings back in the early days. This book is copyrighted 2000 so this update is a little late. However, the book is written to Java 1.3 so it is current enough to still be useful. On the other hand, it is still focused on the world of Java Swing-based front ends. It is clear that the market is based on Web front-ends powered by Java. The book does not even have Servlets or JSPs in the index. It is possible to learn Java from this book, but it needs to be immediately followed by a JSP/Servlet book.

"Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days" by Laura Lemay and Charles L. Perkins (Sams.Net; 1-57521-030-4) is the best of the tutorial Java books. It has a good breadth of coverage. However, the first printing had many, many errors in it. An errata page is referenced in the book. A third printing is out now so possibly these corrections have been made.