Rating:  - I am Encouraged, but not the way that you think
This book sucks ... it starts out with the author trying to describe some concepts of java then he annoyingly refers other concepts to other chapters because the reader is not yet able to understand it (chapter 1)... which is ok so it starts out slow, then it seems like he lost patience or something and then he throws all these concepts and words at you(chapter 2), and he describes useless things which has little value to the main idea of programming ... it seems to me Java books have two approaches to teaching, one is to begin describing all the concepts of and vocab of java and one is like a fast track to programming, this book does neither. I had to buy this book for a computer programming class, like the other reader i had to constantly find other materials to try to understand Java, on the plus side i find it extremely encouraging such a poor book can be recommended by colleges and universities around the USA, after i learn Java maybe i can write a Java textbook too!
Rating:  - Great book.
This book is excellent for anyone wanting to learn Java. It has great examples that actually work, and it teaches in an easy to learn manner. It covers a wide range of topics which would take you from beginner to about the high edge of intermediate. I have read many Java books before this, this book is very well rounded compred to most, and in my opinion has offered the most knowledge thus far.
Rating: - This is by far the best Java book I read.
This is by far the best Java book I read. The concepts and key points are are neatly categorised and also summarized at the end of each chapter. Ideal book for a non-programmer trying to learn Java.
Rating:  - pretty resourceful
i like this book only because i have to. I really don't like the class that I am taking that requires this book. If you have to take a java oriented computer science class, this is the book to use
Rating: - use Generics!
As opposed to what? Small Java?
Well, seriously, Horstmann offers a lot in this massive Java text. Fully up to date with Java 5. Programmers using earlier versions will find here good explanations of the new features. Autoboxing is probably the simplest and easiest to implement. Reduces a lot of verbiage in your code.
Then there are Generics. If you have programmed in C, remember how the original K&R C did not require subroutine arguments to be typed? The drawbacks were recognised only after years of bitter experience with porting ambiguous and ill-documented C code. This led to the current ANSI C, where it is mandatory that arguments must be typed. By analogy, you should read closely the text's description of Generics, and implement this idea.
Sure, Java learnt from C, and from its inception, it required subroutine arguments to be typed. But Generics closes a hole in the earlier use of Java's collection classes like Hashtable, HashSet or Vector. The arguments to these could only be tested at run time, not compile time. So you, as the programmer, had to carefully write comments in the source, describing the correct classes to use as arguments. And you or others working on the code had to manually discipline yourselves to adhere to these specs. It all worked if you were careful. But brittle, especially when there are several programmers.
Now, using Generics to lock down the collection arguments gives more robust development. Where you can find such mis-class bugs at compile time. Much cheaper than at run time. Horstmann recommends them, and I concur strongly.
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