This text is aimed at C and C++ programmers who wish to build large- scale software systems in Java 1.2. Part one of the book compares C and C++ with Java and discusses how these and other OO languages (such as Objective C) influenced the development of Java. There is then a discussion of the Java Native Interface (with its implications for reuse of legacy code). Part two covers the APIs including those facilities new to Java 1.2 such as Java2D, JFC (Swing), application services, etc. (the coverage of some APIs is very brief, e.g. Java2D in 10 pages). Part three is a (very) brief introduction to JavaScript and Part four (on the CD) discusses coding style and provides references to information on the Internet, etc. Throughout the approach is very practical with concepts being demonstrated by simple programs.

One of the first things I found was the statement on page xix 'Unlike C++, Java is a pure object-oriented language'. Java can be considered more OO than C++ but it is not a pure OO language in the way that Smalltalk is. My main worry about this book is that the overall quality of its organisation leaves much to be desired. For a start the index is poor, e.g. a student asked me about final so I looked for it in the index - it was not there! It is mentioned in Chapter 3 with the statement 'The final keyword will be discussed in detail in Chapter 4' - I could not find such a discussion! When I looked on the CD for the Chapter 16 programs using sockets, they were missing! Possibly I was unlucky but this does not inspire confidence! I think C/C++programmers would be better off reading the tutorial in 'Java in a Nutshell' from O'Reilly. Not recommended.