Book Review #30

Book #30 Java for Dummies
Aaron E. Walsh

This book is a blotch in the usually good "For Dummies" series. As I keep reading this book, I keep asking, where's the Java? I don't see any. Pages, after pages, I don't see Java. I keep seeing HTML. Then it hits me. This isn't "Java for Dummies". This book is "Applet for Dummies."

That's right. This is "Java" in the loosest sense of the word. The correct title would have been "Applets" or Java application inside Web browser. So, I reread the book again, and it's rather comprehensive in that regard. There's hardly any Java at all, so you need to learn Java development separately. You know what? Usually, such book will have its own applet development section. So, maybe this book is applet design? This book has a little about everything. I can't help to think that maybe a more focused subject regarding applets design would have been better. As it is, there's not enough meat in there to go deep. Good for survey, but not enough to understand everything.

Who will benefit from this book? If you're a Java Developer who never touched applets before, this may be a good book. But I say, odds are you can do better if you keep looking.