Sams teach yourself Java 2 in 24 hours Second edition

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Revised and updated edition of the leading Java tutorial for beginners with no previous programming experience. The book's short, simple one-hour chapters are easy to understand and they carefully step the reader through the fundamentals of Java programming. This edition has been updated to cover the new Java SDK version 1.3. Readers love this book -- they say it explains Java better than any other book they've seen, and that it's very clear, well-written, and interesting to read. They even appreciate the author's somewhat unique sense of humor.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. 1)
• Part I Getting Started (p. 3)
• Hour 1 Becoming a Programmer (p. 5)
• Choosing a Language (p. 6)
• Telling the Computer What to Do (p. 8)
• How Programs Work (p. 11)
• How Programs Don't Work (p. 12)
• Next Stop: Java (p. 12)
• Workshop: Installing the Kit (p. 14)
• Hour 2 Writing Your First Program (p. 23)
• What You Need to Write Programs (p. 24)
• Creating the Saluton Program (p. 31)
• Beginning the Program (p. 31)
• Storing Information in a Variable (p. 33)
• Saving the Finished Product (p. 35)
• Compiling the Program into a Class File (p. 35)
• Fixing Errors (p. 39)
• Workshop: Running a Java Program (p. 40)
• Hour 3 Vacationing in Java (p. 45)
• First Stop: Sun Microsystems (p. 46)
• Going to School with Java (p. 49)
• Lunch in JavaWorld (p. 51)
• Taking in a Ballgame at ESPN.com (p. 53)
• Getting Down to Business (p. 54)
• Stopping by EarthWeb to Ask Directions (p. 56)
• Workshop: Putting Java on Your Desktop (p. 58)
• Hour 4 Understanding How Java Programs Work (p. 63)
• Creating an Application (p. 64)
• Sending Arguments to Applications (p. 65)
• Applet Basics (p. 67)
• Sending Parameters to Applets (p. 69)
• Workshop: Viewing the Code Used to Run Applets (p. 71)
• Part II Learning the Basics of Programming (p. 75)
• Hour 5 Storing and Changing Information in a Program (p. 77)
• Statements and Expressions (p. 78)
• Assigning Variable Types (p. 78)
• Naming Your Variables (p. 82)
• Storing Information in Variables (p. 83)
• Workshop: Using Expressions (p. 84)
• All About Operators (p. 87)
• Hour 6 Using Strings to Communicate (p. 95)
• Storing Text in Strings (p. 96)
• Displaying Strings in Programs (p. 97)
• Using Special Characters in Strings (p. 97)
• Pasting Strings Together (p. 98)
• Using Other Variables with Strings (p. 99)
• Advanced String Handling (p. 100)
• Workshop: Presenting Credits (p. 102)
• Hour 7 Using Conditional Tests to Make Decisions (p. 109)
• Testing a Condition (p. 110)
• if Statements (p. 110)
• if-else Statements (p. 114)
• switch Statements (p. 115)
• The Conditional Operator (p. 116)
• Workshop: Watching the Clock (p. 117)
• Hour 8 Repeating an Action with Loops (p. 127)
• for Loops (p. 128)
• while Loops (p. 130)
• do-while Loops (p. 131)
• Exiting a Loop (p. 132)
• Naming a Loop (p. 133)
• Workshop: Teaching Your Computer a Lesson (p. 133)
• Part III Working with Information in New Ways (p. 139)
• Hour 9 Storing Information with Arrays (p. 141)
• Creating Arrays (p. 142)
• Using Arrays (p. 144)
• Multidimensional Arrays (p. 145)
• Sorting an Array (p. 145)
• Workshop: Array of Prizes Indeed (p. 148)
• Hour 10 Creating Your First Object (p. 155)
• How Object-Oriented Programming Works (p. 156)
• Objects in Action (p. 157)
• What Objects Are (p. 158)
• Understanding Inheritance (p. 159)
• Building an Inheritance Hierarchy (p. 160)
• Converting Objects and Simple Variables (p. 161)
• Workshop: Creating an Object (p. 165)
• Hour 11 Describing What Your Object Is Like (p. 171)
• Creating Variables (p. 172)
• Creating Class Variables (p. 174)
• Creating Behavior with Methods (p. 175)
• Putting One Class Inside Another (p. 181)
• Using the this Keyword (p. 182)
• Casting Objects and Converting Values (p. 183)
• Workshop: Using Class Methods and Variables (p. 185)
• Hour 12 Making the Most of Existing Objects (p. 191)
• The Power of Inheritance (p. 192)
• Establishing Inheritance (p. 194)
• Working with Existing Objects (p. 196)
• Workshop: Creating a Subclass (p. 199)
• Part IV Programming a Graphical User Interface (p. 207)
• Hour 13 Building a Simple User Interface (p. 209)
• Swing and the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (p. 210)
• Using Components (p. 210)
• Workshop: Creating Your Own Component (p. 221)
• Hour 14 Laying Out a User Interface (p. 227)
• Using Layout Managers (p. 228)
• Workshop: Laying Out an Application (p. 232)
• Hour 15 Responding to User Input (p. 239)
• Getting Your Programs to Listen (p. 240)
• Setting Up Components to Be Heard (p. 241)
• Handling User Events (p. 241)
• Workshop: A Little Lotto Madness (p. 246)
• Hour 16 Building a Complex User Interface (p. 257)
• Scroll Panes (p. 258)
• Sliders (p. 260)
• Change Listeners (p. 262)
• Workshop: Using Image Icons and Toolbars (p. 265)
• Part V Moving into Advanced Topics (p. 271)
• Hour 17 Creating Interactive Web Programs (p. 273)
• Standard Applet Methods (p. 274)
• Putting an Applet on a Web Page (p. 277)
• A Sample Applet (p. 278)
• The Java Plug-in (p. 281)
• Sending Parameters from a Web Page (p. 284)
• Receiving Parameters in the Applet (p. 285)
• Workshop: Handling Parameters in an Applet (p. 285)
• Hour 18 Handling Errors in a Program (p. 291)
• Exceptions (p. 292)
• Throwing Exceptions (p. 298)
• Workshop: Throwing and Catching Exceptions (p. 300)
• Hour 19 Creating a Threaded Program (p. 305)
• Threads (p. 306)
• Working with Threads (p. 310)
• Starting with init () (p. 312)
• Catching Errors as You Set Up URLs (p. 313)
• Handling Screen Updates in the paint () Method (p. 314)
• Starting the Thread (p. 315)
• Handling Mouse Clicks (p. 317)
• Workshop: Revolving Links (p. 318)
• Hour 20 Reading and Writing Files (p. 325)
• Streams (p. 326)
• Writing Data to a Stream (p. 331)
• Workshop: Writing Bytes to an MP3 File (p. 332)
• Part VI Creating Multimedia Programs (p. 337)
• Hour 21 Using Fonts and Color (p. 339)
• Using the Font Class (p. 340)
• Using the Color Class (p. 343)
• Other Ways to Choose Colors (p. 343)
• Workshop: Displaying a Danger Message (p. 344)
• Hour 22 Playing Sound Files (p. 353)
• Retrieving and Using Sounds (p. 354)
• Java Archives (p. 360)
• Workshop: Making Your Computer Talk to You (p. 361)
• Hour 23 Working with Graphics (p. 367)
• Using Graphics (p. 368)
• Drawing Lines and Shapes (p. 369)
• Workshop: Baking a Pie Graph (p. 377)
• Hour 24 Creating Animation (p. 387)
• Animating a Sequence of Images (p. 388)
• Sending Parameters to the Applet (p. 392)
• Workshop: Follow the Bouncing Ball (p. 394)
• Part VII Appendixes (p. 401)
• Appendix A Where to Go from Here: Java Resources (p. 403)
• Other Books to Consider (p. 403)
• Sun's Official Java Site (p. 404)
• Other Java Web Sites (p. 406)
• Java Newsgroups (p. 407)
• Job Opportunities (p. 409)
• Appendix B This Book's Web Site (p. 411)
• Appendix C Configuring the Software Development Kit (p. 413)
• Using a Command-Line Interface (p. 414)
• Configuring the Software Development Kit (p. 420)
• UNIX Configuration (p. 431)
• Appendix D Using a Text Editor with the Software Development Kit (p. 433)
• Choosing a Text Editor (p. 433)
• Creating a File Association in Windows (p. 435)
• Index (p. 439)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Rogers Cadenhead is a writer, computer programmer, and Web developer. He is the author or co-author of several Internet-related books, including Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 21 Days , and Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft FrontPage 2000 in 24 Hours . He also writes a question-and-answer trivia column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Knight-Ridder News Service, and New York Times Syndicate.