Java: The Good Parts

What if you could condense Java down to its very best features and build better applications with that simpler version? In this book, veteran Sun Labs engineer Jim Waldo reveals which parts of Java are most useful, and why those features make Java among the best programming languages available.

Every language eventually builds up crud, Java included. The core language has become increasingly large and complex, and the libraries associated with it have grown even more. Learn how to take advantage of Java's best features by working with an example application throughout the book. You may not like some of the features Jim Waldo considers good, but they'll actually help you write better code.

• Learn how the type system and packages help you build large-scale software
• Use exceptions to make code more reliable and easier to maintain
• Manage memory automatically with garbage collection
• Discover how the JVM provides portability, security, and nearly bug-free code
• Use Javadoc to embed documentation within the code
• Take advantage of reusable data structures in the collections library
• Use Java RMI to move code and data in a distributed network
• Learn how Java concurrency constructs let you exploit multicore processors

Jim Waldo is a Distinguished Engineer with Sun Microsystems Laboratories, where he investigates next-generation large-scale distributed systems. He is currently the technical lead of Project Darkstar, a multi-threaded, distributed infrastructure for massive multi-player on-line games and virtual worlds. Prior to his current assignment with Sun Labs, he was the lead architect for Jini, a distributed programming system based on Java.

Before joining Sun, Jim spent eight years at Apollo Computer and Hewlett Packard working in the areas of distributed object systems, user interfaces, class libraries, text and internationalization. While at HP, he led the design and development of the first Object Request Broker, and was instrumental in getting that technology incorporated into the first OMG CORBA specification.

Jim is a Professor of the Practice at Harvard University, where he teaches distributed computing and topics in the intersection of policy and technology in the department of computer science.

Jim received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). He also holds M.A. degrees in both linguistics and philosophy from the University of Utah. He is a member of the IEEE and ACM.