Java: Books or Online Tutorials?

[Brandon]

I have been programming in C/C++ for about 6 years. I already know
Java (the language itself) and the basics of AWT (but not very much)
and I'm interested in learning about Java interfaces. I'm especially
interested in Swing. So, given what I already know, would it be
better to buy a Java book or just look for tutorials online? If
tutorials, which tutorials are generally regarded as the best? If
books, which book would be best? I've been having a hard time finding
good books that aren't for either beginners learning about loops and
exceptions and whatnot, or experts trying to squeeze all they can out
of Java.

-Brandon

 

[Roedy Green]

So, given what I already know, would it be
better to buy a Java book or just look for tutorials online?

There are a few gotchas to Swing, like contentPane, focus traversal
and use of paintComponent but the rest is just stamp collecting.

You can get the basics of most Swing components just by looking them
up in the Java glossary. e.g. http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jbutton.html

From there it points you to the Sun docs for the less commonly used
methods.

See the table at http://mindprod.com/jgloss/awt.html
for the equivalent Swing methods to your familiar AWT ones.

Perhaps you might want to read a tutorial or essay or text for JTable
and JTree. The other components are pretty straightforward. The
JavaDoc should suffice.

 

[Gary Labowitz]

There are a few gotchas to Swing, like contentPane, focus traversal
and use of paintComponent but the rest is just stamp collecting.

You can get the basics of most Swing components just by looking them
up in the Java glossary. e.g. http://mindprod.com/jgloss/jbutton.html

From there it points you to the Sun docs for the less commonly used
methods.

See the table at http://mindprod.com/jgloss/awt.html
for the equivalent Swing methods to your familiar AWT ones.

Perhaps you might want to read a tutorial or essay or text for JTable
and JTree. The other components are pretty straightforward. The
JavaDoc should suffice.

I second that. For the most part you can puzzle out how things work using
Java Docs. However, if you have been programming for a while and want some
direct help with how things work, I find Core Java (Horstmann and Cornell, I
think) to be a good point for reference.

 

[Thomas Weidenfeller]

I have been programming in C/C++ for about 6 years. I already know
Java (the language itself) and the basics of AWT (but not very much)
and I'm interested in learning about Java interfaces. I'm especially
interested in Swing.

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/index.html

More resources are listed in the comp.lang.java.gui FAQ

/Thomas

 

[David Segall]

I have been programming in C/C++ for about 6 years. I already know
Java (the language itself) and the basics of AWT (but not very much)
and I'm interested in learning about Java interfaces. I'm especially
interested in Swing. So, given what I already know, would it be
better to buy a Java book or just look for tutorials online? If
tutorials, which tutorials are generally regarded as the best? If
books, which book would be best? I've been having a hard time finding
good books that aren't for either beginners learning about loops and
exceptions and whatnot, or experts trying to squeeze all they can out
of Java.

-Brandon

You choose. Swing Second Edition
(http://www.manning.com/catalog/view.php?book=robinson2) is widely
regarded as a definitive reference and tutorial on Swing and is
available in hard copy or an EBook. I prefer having the hard copy but
the first edition was released as a free download and is still
available from several sites including
http://www.newsoftland.co.nz/newsoftland/free_downloads/javaswingdevelopment.html.

 

[Brandon]

Thanks for the advice everyone

 

[Petr Aubrecht]

You choose. Swing Second Edition

(http://www.manning.com/catalog/view.php?book=robinson2) is widely
regarded as a definitive reference and tutorial on Swing and is
available in hard copy or an EBook. I prefer having the hard copy but
the first edition was released as a free download and is still available
from several sites including
http://www.newsoftland.co.nz/newsoftland/free_downloads/
javaswingdevelopment.html.

Unfortunately, the last address doesn't contain any files (try to download
any).

Anyway, the book is great and it's better to have hardcopy.

Petr

 

[David Segall]

Unfortunately, the last address doesn't contain any files (try to download
any).

I'm sorry, I didn't test the link. It does seem to be here
http://javafaq.nu/java/free-swing-book/index.shtml but I should have
given the file name which is swingdoc.zip. I'm sure it will be
available via FTP long after these modern crazes like HTTP and Google
have disappeared.