Head First Java: Your Brain on Java - A Learner's Guide [Paperback]

 

 

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I have never written a review before because frankly no computer book I have read has been worth it. This book is different.

This book is actually fun to read and isn't boring like most computer books. It takes hard-to-understand/abstract concepts and breaks them down into a format that is easy and intuitive.

If you are looking for a fun and easy-to-understand book to quickly get up-to-speed on JAVA. This is the book for you!

I buy a lot of techinical books and found this one to be missing the mark both on content and format. There was too much effort on dumbing down the information with pictures while trying to maintain the technical vocabulary of object oriented programming. This strange mixture of geek-bonics and unrelated graphics created a major disconnect between the graphics, text, and example codes.

There are other books out there with more information and better formated for learning and for less money.

I will be selling this book shortly.

Joe

If you do not know what Right brained and Left brained people are here is an explanation:

1. Left-brained people more focused on logic and structured activities.
2. People like this love to make lists, perform well in middle management, are highly logical and analytical and usually very reliable.
3. They tend to store information in names and words.
4. They think in order (first, next, etc.) They would rather be told how to do something than have it demonstrated.
5. They thrive in the classroom that involves a lot of listening.
6. They enjoy talking and writing things down.
7. They prefer discussing in-group projects. They like making and following structured rules.
8. They don't like when their routine is interrupted.

Right-brained People

"Emotions give a more activated and chemically stimulated brain, which helps us recall things better." - Cahil

1. The more intuitive and random in processing information and the more apt you are to store information primarily in pictures.
2. When asked to recall an event or a person, the right-brained person will flash instantly on an image.
3. A right-brained person is more likely to remember a face and a left-brained person would remember the name.
4. Although this person has a strong visual memory, he/she tends not to have the ability to perform logical, linguistic tasks.
5. Right-brained people tend to view and respond to the word with pictures and physically; unfortunately the world (especially schools) tends to view and respond with words.

That said, programming sounds to be more in the left brained domain. If you are right brained this book will seem like a life saver to you because it uses pictures, cartoons, crossword puzzles and such to keep your brain motivated.

My personal experience with the book, being left brained, is that it goes way too far in telling stores.I feel my brain is actually consumed in catching up with the drama that can span several pages and involve several people, trying to remember who is Brain, who is Dick and who is Jeff, which one was the OOP developer and which one was the classic C developer and who is Jenna, is she the girlfriend of the classic C developer that advocates procedural programming or is she the newly hired programmer that is going to teach everybody the best practices. And now, with Brian's code and Dick's code listed in a comic font, which one should I focus on and learn, and which one will turn out to be bad few pages later in the text.....

This brings me to the second point. I like to be taught the best practices first so they register in my brain, and then be told "Now see how much chaos can happen when you do not use those practices..." and then be given bad examples. That sounds straightforward. This book explains things backwards (at least to me). It develops a solution and tests it and it works! So far so good, so you tend to learn the solution and absorb it in your brain, and then next page the Author says "OH NO!!! Jim changed the variable type, now look what happened!! The coke vending machine started dispensing ducks!!! Maybe it was not a good idea in the first place to design the machine that way!"
And by that point I feel I want to cry, having wasted half an hour learning a design approach that is not good, that I will never be using, and now I have to waste more time unlearning it and erasing it from my brain, hoping that the next iteration will be the good design not yet another bad one on the road to the happy ending when Brian kisses Jenna and they both go to a long vacation after getting a raise.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible Book
I guess if you've never touched a computer before or ever written any code you might enjoy this book. Honestly, I haven't read the whole thing - I couldn't finish it. Read more

Published on April 27 2004 by B. Coltrin

5.0 out of 5 stars A good & fast way to learn Object Orientation & Java
What a great book. I didn't get this book to learn Java, I actually wanted to learn the principles of Object Oriented Programming (OOP).This book has done just that! Read more

Published on April 19 2004 by William Willis

5.0 out of 5 stars E-X-T-R-A-O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y material
All I can say is WOW! The material really sinks in fast. The Humor is designed to turn on your light bulb but brightly. Read more

Published on April 7 2004 by Pen Name

5.0 out of 5 stars E-X-T-R-A-O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y material
All I can say is WOW! The material really sinks in fast. The Humor is designed to turn on your light bulb but brightly. Read more

Published on April 7 2004 by Pen Name

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, written for my learning style.
I used to program back in the 80's. The books written then are different then the way they write today. Looking at this book I had to break down and get it. Read more

Published on Mar 10 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Sink or swim - I'm diving in........Head First!
I took a beginners Java class a few years ago at my local community college. I've only read the first chapter, but feel that I will gain more practical knowledge in a shorter time... Read more

Published on Feb 24 2004 by M. Keys

2.0 out of 5 stars MTV meets Java
After receiving this in the mail, I was immediately taken aback. After regaining my composure, and trying to forget about the money I spent on this, I decided to try and read... Read more

Published on Jan 30 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Great book for beginners.

Best place to start learning Java.

Published on Jan 18 2004 by Prabath Siriwardena

5.0 out of 5 stars The most interesting book I ever found in Java programming!!
This book is great! I've got several Java programming books written in English or Japanese, but none of them like this one. Read more

Published on Jan 12 2004 by jenchenaus

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for beginneers!
Head First Java is an excellent recommendation for those who are afraid of programming books. The authors' style is inviting and takes all the fears away in an entertaining way... Read more

Published on Jan 7 2004 by Alejandro Ramirez

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