Tricks of the Java Programming Gurus

Peter Kitson

ISBN : 1575211025

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Audience and Focus

At the start of this project, I began by outlining the book that I wanted to read-the book that I wished was already available. I listed things that I wanted to learn about Java: deep topics which weren\'t being covered by the tutorials or reference books which were coming on the market, and questions about how Java could be used for advanced tasks. Editors, friends, and other authors proposed chapters on topics which I had overlooked, and the result, I think, meets my goal. In writing my chapters, and reading the chapters contributed by the other authors, I\'ve learned the answers to the questions I had at the beginning, and many others besides.

The topics covered by Tricks of the Java Programming Gurus fall into three categories:

• Advanced use and customization of the core Java API: applets, the AWT, I/O, threads and concurrency, and networking
• Building stand-alone applications which use untrusted or partially trusted Java code for dynamic extensibility, just as HotJava does
• Use of new or auxiliary Java class libraries and frameworks which make Java useful for working with VRML, client-server systems, relational databases, and persistent object databases.

If you are interested in any of those things-if you want to take Java beyond animated coffee cups and flashy Web pages-you should read this book. It is filled with tricks on both small and large scales: handy snippets of code, complete sample classes, and high-level design strategies designed to help you make the most of Java\'s unique combination of features.

The authors of this book like Java and think that it has tremendous promise, but you won\'t find much breathless hype here. We assume that readers are already familiar with the basics of the Java language and API, and if you know that much, you\'ve heard the claims already. So instead of asking you to sit through that again, we\'ve tried to concentrate on information that you can actually use to bring some of the promises to reality. We have been frank about deficiencies in Java and its libraries, steering you away from problem areas, and warning you about bugs and misfeatures which may need to change in some future version of the libraries. We\'ve also tried to provide some of the knowledge you\'ll need to work around some of the problems on your own.

Roadmap for Readers

This book, as the table of contents shows, is organized in ten parts, each devoted to a different part of the Java environment, or a different aspect of Java programming. The organization is logical, and if it\'s your goal to become a complete Java expert, you might want to start at the beginning and read straight through to the end. Most readers, however, will have more pragmatic goals, and will want to choose the chapters that are particularly relevant to their needs. Hopefully, somewhere in the next few paragraphs you will find an approximation to your own goal, along with pointers to chapters which should help you along your way.

Most readers will find Parts 2, 3, and 4 useful: they cover I/O and concurrency, advanced AWT topics, and graphics-topics which are important for all kinds of Java programs. Also of general interest is Part 7, \'Using Java Tools,\' which covers graphical development environments and other Java tools.

If you are interested in writing advanced applets that interact with the user and perform useful jobs, you can start at the beginning. Part I deals with advanced applet programming: inter-applet communication, using the MediaTracker to track asynchronous loading of images and other media objects, making good use of the network, and audio. Applet programmers can also make use of the general topics in Parts 2, 3, and 4. Even the I/O chapter will be useful in spite of applet security restrictions, because Java network communication is accomplished using some of the same mechanisms as are used for file I/O.