This book teaches how to develop Java applications at the professional level. It starts by showing how to code, test, and debug everyday business applications that wont crash. It presents object-oriented features like classes, inheritance, interfaces, and polymorphism in a way thats both understandable and useful in the real world perspective thats often missing in Java training. It presents essential Java skills such as working with data types, control statements, arrays, collections, generics, enumerations, exceptions, threads, Swing components, applets, and text and binary files. It covers new Java SE 6 features such as new JDBC features, the StAX XML API, and the built-in Derby database. And its all done in the distinctive Murach style that has been training professional programmers for more than 30 years.

Table of Contents

How to get started with Java; Introduction to Java programming; How to work with data; How to code control statements; How to validate input data; How to define and use classes; How to work with inheritance; How to work with interfaces; Other object-oriented programming skills; How to work with arrays; How to work with collections and generics; How to work with dates and strings; How to handle exceptions; How to work with threads; How to get started with Swing; How to work with controls and layout managers; How to handle events and validate data; How to develop applets; How to work with text and binary files; How to work with XML; How to use JDBC to work with databases; How to work with a Derby database; Index.