Murach Beginning Java with Eclipse was released just after the launch of NetBeans books. The book consists of five section divided into several chapters.
Chapter 1 provides a basic introduction to Java programming in addition to usage of classes and methods. You will also learn the steps required to code your own classes and methods. The author also discusses the procedure to test and debug an application.
Chapter 2 covers the usage of primitive types, operators, control statements, strings and arrays. In chapter 3, you will learn the concepts related to object oriented programming such as inheritance, interfaces in addition to usage of inner classes, enumerations and documentation.
Chapter 4 examines the use of collections, generics, lambdas, dates, times, file I/O and threads. Error handling plays a crucial part in Java programming and you will learn all the concepts related to exceptions in chapter 16.
In Chapter 19, you will learn the steps required to connect to a MySQL database using Java. However, the author has not covered the establishment of database connectivity using Eclipse, which is of course the title of the book.
Chapter 20 examines the concept of JDBC. Chapters 21 and 22 provides a detailed coverage of the development of GUI applications with Swing.
Murach Beginning Java with Eclipse also includes two appendixes which examines the installation of Java and Eclipse in both Windows and Mac OS X.
Each chapter ends with a section named perspective and also includes bulleted summary. I very much liked the way in which the authors have presented the summary. From my point of view, the book will help readers to quickly learn the facts.
Murach’s Beginning Java with Eclipse includes exercise questions in numbered format which prompts you to do specific actions. You need to read each line to complete the exercises as stated till the final step. From my point of view, these questions will help students to grasp knowledge quickly.
I would like to see a separate chapter on the development of mobile apps using Eclipse. The book has been drafted similar to that of NetBeans book. You will find the TOC similar to that of NetBeans book.
Murach Beginning Java with Eclipse is an ideal companion for those programmers who wish to build Java applications using Eclipse. Moreover, companies can keep a copy of the book on their library shelves for reference purposes.
