My review entitled “A Tale of Two Java Books” was accepted by Slashdot for publication. Okay, so it’s not the New York Times Review of Books—and I generally think that’s a good thing—but it’s something. The review, which hasn’t been posted yet, compares and contrasts two introductory Java texts I’ve read recently: Beginning Java Objects (Web site: ObjectStart) and Head First Java (Web site: Head First Java).
I’ll put the book review in the reviews section once I get a chance. I didn’t want to pre-empt Slashdot and I may just incorporate the inevitable criticisms that will occur in the discussion.
The one thing that I can say off the bat about my review is that it’s a little more negative towards Head First Java than I really think. There’s nothing explicit, but there’s an subtle slighting of HFJ in it. I think that it’s an excellent book and might be sufficient for many people, but Beginning Java Objects is more systematic and that’s my personal learning style. While I enjoyed HFJ immensely, I couldn’t have read it first or solely.
Once it gets posted to the public site, I’ll link up to it here.
[UPDATE (7/31/03): Looks like they’re taking their sweet time in publishing my vaunted review. Since my credibility may be called into question, here’s a snippet of a screenshot showing Slashdot’s acceptance:]
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[UPDATE (8/6/03): Okay, they’ve published my review. Predictably, page views are through the roof: approximately 2,200 as of 6:20 p.m. compared to an average of about 300-450!]