As a visit to the computer section of any major bookstore will readily reveal, a great many books on the Java programming language have been published since 1995, when this innovative computer language was first introduced. One way of judging the level of interest in a computer programming language is to count the number of shelves devoted to it at major bookstores. By this standard, the level of interest in Java, which was very high immediately after its introduction, remains strong today.

There are many introductory books on Java to choose from, all presenting basically the same information (fundamental concepts, constructs, and syntax) but varying in their approach, clarity, and insightfulness. For advanced or specialized topics, far fewer choices are typically available, varying in their depth and choice of examples. The purpose of this annotated bibliography to assist those interested in Java in choosing among these offerings. The list of books presented here is far from an exhaustive one, but includes the most valuable of those I have at one time or another considered promising enough to add to my own personal library of Java references, as well as a few that I have found disappointing. Of course, some of the book on this list are now or soon will be available in revised edition.

I have discussed in the greatest detail those books I have found particularly insightful, topical, or cogent, and in many case have included brief quotes to give the flavor of the author's style.

As you will see, some of these books were published soon after the introduction of Java. Consequently used copies may be available though used bookstores, Amazon.com, or eBay.

If you are an avid student of Java or other computer-related topics, I would like to draw your attention particularly to O'Reilly's Safari Online Technical subscription service, which can help in comparing books on specific topics.

Because this bibliography is published as an eBook and you can easily search for a particular author, the references are organized in order of how significant or useful I consider them to be rather than alphabetically by author.

Books providing insights into the unique challenges of computer programming are included whether or not they refer specifically to Java. Also included are books related to object-oriented programming, component software, and software design patterns even though in a few cases they refer to other programming languages.

Copyright © 2003 by John Landahl