Head First Java, 2nd Edition

Perhaps if you're a total beginner to programming and probably more so you're under 15 you'll like this book. For me I just hate it, I know this is one of those reviews that is just the out lier to the negative but I would honestly warn people away from this book despite the copious amounts of good reviews on here. Basically I enjoy a book that is straight to the point and condensed. Also I enjoy a book that gives correct terminology and sticks to using it. This book spends pages to explain basic concepts and wastes large amounts of page space on pictures and cartoons so you end up just flipping through multiples pages just searching around for the useful information. In one night of light reading and scanning I've already moved to page 173 and every new page just annoys me more.

This book is written really well in the sense that it explains the particular topic in a casual everyday manner, making it very easy to understand. I progressed through the entire book and found this to be the case regardless of difficulty of topic.
I have 2 big issues with this book:
1: After reading the book, and then opening up my McKenzie 'Mock Exam Questions' book for the SCJA to any random page (pgs 258-260 in this case, questions 12-2 thru 12-5) and trying to answer these 4, I found that the notation and terminology specified in those question was not mentioned in HFJ. Such as 'composite' & 'multiplicity', 'associated with'; the "-" in the class diagram meaning private, "+" meaning public.
So while the book is very easy to read, I'm not convinced there's a real correlation to passing the SCJA exam without studying McKenzie's questions and the answers.
2: there isn't nearly enough practice problems that the student can use to bring the just-explained concept home. There are the Code Magnets, 1 per chapter, sometimes, which I think are great, the Pool puzzles are fun, and the True/False I believe have value. Only one of each per 50page chapter, not nearly enough. But the Crossword puzzles I never attempted, nor the 'Five Minute Mystery', which is basically a word problem. Even typing in their code examples manually along the way just to see them run and try to let the coding constructs sink in was only minimally helpful.

Although I have granted this book 4 stars -- a pretty favorable rating -- mine is another one of those dissenting opinions you will see in the current set of reviews.

I have given 4 stars because I think the Head First folks' aims are laudable; however (and this is a big however), for me the approach simply doesn't work, and I feel as though if I'd spent a little time with the book prior to ordering it I would have given it a miss.

My point here is that since it is the approach that is the real selling point here, it's worth your while trying to figure out whether the approach works for you or (as it did in my case) gives you a headache, and makes you wish for more traditional, meaning-bearing prose.

The harsh version of what I am fumbling towards saying here is that, for me, this book is the triumph of widgets. I recall a Perl 5 book from some years back that I used and liked ... but I recall detractors (the author, a really fine and well-known writer on Perl, included) saying that the book had been near-ruined with text widgets and icons and other such stuff. The Head First books, while not ALL widgets, tilt the scale massively in favor of the visual, tricky, goofy, funny [insert more terms here] approach, in a self-proclaimed effort to entertain you into learning.

There is a part of me that can grok that and applaud this, but when it comes down to brass tacks, it just doesn't work for me. And when I say "doesn't work," I am not even considering the question of whether the content is reasonably complete (other reviewers have pointed out that things may get dropped or glided over in th is process, with confusing results for learners). No, I mean "doesn't work," in the sense that I am not sure what to do with it. As an example, there are several "Code Magnet" sections in this book. The conceit is simple: mix and match these jumbled code fragments, as if they were "magnetic poetry" on a refrigerator, so that together they form a program that outputs the desired stuff.

This is a cute, attractive idea that a majority of readers can probably relate to -- but what is one supposed to do with a paper page of "code magnets." Is the reader supposed to tear the page out? type all the code in and mix it around? It doesn't appear to be in the downloadable code for the book ... OH, well it seems O'Reilly sells the code magnets, for $19.95 / set. Hmm.

Honestly, I didn't know that last fact until I started this review. I'm not trying to be awfully snarky here, but I think the whole thing would work better as an interactive CD-ROM. It's hard for the activities to reach out and grab you (crossword puzzles work okay, I guess, but their pedagogic value is pretty small) when they're confined to paper.

In short, try this thing first. If you like it, by all means go for it. I didn't like it, and I have reservations about whether it really works in its current form.

Pretty good book for those whom Programming is difficult to understand. You will be doing an excellent purchase.

I had to get this book for an Intro Java class I'm taking. The "teacher" is basically reading the book as part of his lessons. I've learned more from this book than I have from the "teacher". This book has a unique approach to teaching programming, and so far I think it's working. Other programming books I have read, are really dry and boring, this book is the opposite.