Rating: 

Umm, you're all stupid.

These books don't claim to be a technical breakdown of the underlying mechanics of java architecture, nor do they claim to be an api reference. If you can't figure out what these books are for, open up a chapter (all over this site) or, better yet, take a look at the index (not a whole lot there...).

What this book is for, is teaching java to people who know the name of the language and thats about it. When I was teaching myself java, I was surrounded by books that had pages and pages of stuff I couldn't understand. As someone who had never programmed before, telling me that such and such a feature was implemented in java almost in exactly the same way it is used in C++ doesn't help much. This book is great because, unlike any other book I have ever seen, it starts at level 0, and goes from there. I can't give give enough praise to a book that fills an educational void found in learning many difficult skills, especially java. If you want a reference text, go get someting else. If your tired of reference texts, get this.

Again, these books aren't devoid of information, they're structured for someone who doesnt know whats going on.

I will also say that as soon as I finished this book, I went out and got the api reference books published by sun-because, with the java I got from this I could find all those previously cryptic books useful, and that perhaps is the best description of what these books are-A bridge from nothing to there.

SO-if that bridge is what you're seeking, these books are a well structured, occasionally mildy amusing educational aid that will serve perfectly as that bridge.

:)