Java is a programming language that gained popularity in recent years because it became a standard language in many computer science (CS) curricula. Because Java as a language is not specifically difficult, sometimes the teaching process simplifies the language by omitting elements, techniques, and more importantly skills, affecting programmers who want to use Java to its full extent.

This book aims to provide a systematic and guided introduction to Java that goes from a basic to professional level. Different than other books that focus on the language construction itself, this book concentrates on skills that every Java programmer must have. On first view, the book looks like it was designed as a cookbook, that is, a set of practical recipes and of course plenty of how-to chapters and chapter paragraphs. However, I must say that beneath the recipes is a well-thought-out approach that aims to build programmers’ skills step by step in a most practical way.

The first chapter represents a short but comprehensive introduction to the book’s main topics: Java and NetBeans. The next chapter introduces the basic elements of writing Java code, variables and strings, along with practical guidelines about how to work on a project in the NetBeans framework. I found this particular approach quite appealing because it allows users to learn faster and in a more natural way. Chapters 3 and 4 introduce classes and methods. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the structure of object-oriented applications and techniques to debug and test an application. At this point, a programmer who has followed the text should have enough skills to code his or her own simple application and will also be familiar with NetBeans.

The next section (chapters 7 to 10) builds on the previous five chapters and expands programmers’ skills to working with control statements, arrays, and strings. I must say that many introductory Java courses usually stop at that point, leaving essential skills out of the discussion. This book, however, does not, because the next step in the ladder is building up vital object-oriented programming skills. These skills are addressed in Section 3 (chapters 11 to 13). The most interesting and valuable part here is chapter 11, which deals with the concept of inheritance.

The book continues with techniques and methods for working with files, lambdas, and what is the most valuable: threads. Finally, the last section, which includes chapters 19 to 22, provides guidelines to work with databases (MySQL).

The main advantage of the book is the format of the presentation: each topic is spread across two pages so that code examples, diagrams, and screen captures are all visible at once. This significantly improves readability. In addition, each chapter contains a good set of examples, which can be very useful for students.

Overall, this well-designed study book presents the needed parts of a language in a balanced, organized, and accessible manner. As such, it will be useful for students who want to learn Java quickly and programmers of other languages who want to add Java to their skillset.

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