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Unless you study computing at
university, or work in IT, theres a
pretty good chance youve never
taken the time to have a good
look at Java. Although there are
various Java tools for the Amiga
such as the Jikes Java compiler
and Kaffe, using Java on the
Amiga is not a realistic
proposition right now.
This, of
course, is going to change.
With the new Amiga / Tao
alliance offering what is likely to
be the ultimate Java platform, its
a must-learn language for people
interested in coding for the next
generation Amiga.
Once you get
past some of the ugly looking
C++ - analogues, its as simple
to use as Blitz Basic, and a
whole lot more powerful. It runs
on anything, can produce
applets that run in a web page
and, when we get new Elate
powered Amigas, will actually run
at a pretty decent speed too.
Peter McBrides Java Made
Simple is an annoying book.
On the one hand it is well
named; the explanations are
beautifully well explained, the
code is clearly commented and
the structure is simple to get to
grips with. The book takes a
practical approach, expanding
the breadth of detail with each
chapter, and setting exercises to help hammer the lessons home.
An extensive use of screenshots
is unfortunately (if inevitably)
PC oriented, but the information
should be applicable enough.
On the other hand, it is rather
out of date.
Java Made Simple is too
simple. This is really because it
has not been updated in a
couple of years, while Java itself
has come some way. The book
is pretty much based on Java 1.0
and misses a lot from current
implementations.
If you are
looking for something definitive,
or are an experienced
programmer, this is certainly not
the book for you. However, if
you are relatively new to
programming, or only used to
higher level languages such as
Blitz Basic or Amos, this book
does a superb job of helping you
to understand what Java can do
and how it works. For someone
new to Java, making their way
through this book in preparation
to more in-depth (and much
fatter) Java books is excellent
training.
Originally reviewed in issue 6
by Andrew Korn.
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