Java: Beyond the Buttons

Learn Java and learn it well. Get to know it intimately. Learn its quirks and its foibles. Understand its strengths and weaknesses. Know what you can reasonably expect it to do and what you can't. Be in complete control as you write reliable, robust and efficient Java code. The first part of the book explains the mechanics of Java. It shows you in step-by-step detail how Java works - from the basics of class definitions and object construction to the programming of Graphical User Interfaces with visual components such as buttons, checkboxes, sliders etc. It starts at the beginning with an in-depth explanation of classes and objects - the building blocks of Java. Each new concept is demonstrated with one or more concise, fully executable programs - not code fragments - that can be compiled and run as they stand. Line by line explanations are given of what exactly happens behind the scenes as the code runs. The second half of the book applies what has been learned to areas of Java programming such as event and exception handling, applets and animation, inheritance and interfaces, graphics and painting, jar files and collections, input and output streams and threads i.e. multi-tasking. Included are detailed explanations of bit manipulation and how Java stores negative numbers. If you want to really understand how Java works, and be able to use it with total confidence, this is the book for you.