Author: Paul J. Deitel, Harvey M. Deitel
Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2007
Pages: 1500
ISBN:978-0132222204
Aimed at: Beginning Java programmers
Rating: 3
Pros: A complete course in Java
Cons: Tedious and uninspired.
Reviewed by: Mike James

Now in it's 7^th edition, this is a massive, heavy book. This makes it physically difficult to read which is a pity because the authors and publishers have gone to a lot of trouble to make it easy to read. It is printed in colour throughout and there is a CD bound into the back with all of the programs in the book and lots of useful software.

Despite the lavish use of colour, the overall impression is of a crowed messy layout – which is surprising given that there are 1500 pages. The book covers everything you could possibly need to know about Java 5, object-oriented design, UML and so on.

The overall feel is of a text book. There are lots of self assessment questions and examples that would be familiar to anyone doing a university computer science course. It’s the sort of book that you will probably never finish reading or using and if you attempted it you’d suffer terminal boredom. If you like huge books that cover more than is strictly necessary you might like this volume. I simply found it too messy, too big and too tedious – but top marks for effort.