Sams Teach Yourself Java 6 in 21 Days

“If you get only one Java book, it should be Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days”   –PC Magazine   In just 21 days, you can acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to develop three kinds of programs with Java: applications on your computer, servlets on a web server, and browser-launched Java Web Start applications.   No previous programming experience required. By following the 21 carefully organized lessons in this book, anyone can learn the basics of Java programming.   Learn at your own pace. You can work through each chapter sequentially to make sure you thoroughly understand all of the concepts and methodologies, or you can focus on specific lessons to learn the techniques that interest you most.   Test your knowledge. Each chapter ends with a Workshop section filled with questions, answers, and exercises for further study. There are even certification practice questions.   “Sams Teach Yourself Java is one of the best introductions to hands-on Java programming. If you buy one book on Java, this is the one to buy!”  –Independent Web Review   Completely revised, updated, and expanded to cover the latest features of Java 6 Learn to develop standalone Java applications, web servlets, JavaServer Pages, and Java Web Start applications Easy-to-understand, practical examples clearly illustrate the fundamentals of Java programming Discover how Swing can help you quickly develop programs with a graphical user interface Find out about JDBC database programming, Internet client/server programming, and XML parsing with the open source XOM class library Covers new features of version 6 such as Java DB, the new relational database that is now a built-in part of Java   Rogers Cadenhead is a web application developer who has written 22 books on Internet-related topics, including Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 Hours. He maintains this book’s official website at http://www.java21days.com.   Laura Lemay is one of the world’s most popular authors on Web development topics. She is the author of the bestselling Sams Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML, as well as Sams Teach Yourself Perl in 21 Days.    Category:  Java Programming Covers:  Java 6 Platform Standard Edition User Level:  Beginning—Intermediate 

Table of Contents:
Introduction                                                                                                 1     How This Book Is Organized... 2     Who Should Read This Book... 4     Conventions Used in This Book... 5 Week I: The Java Language                                                         Day 1: Getting Started with Java                                                9     The Java Language.... 10         History of the Language... 10         Introduction to Java... 11         Selecting a Development Tool.. 11     Object-Oriented Programming... 12     Objects and Classes.... 14     Attributes and Behavior... 17         Attributes of a Class of Objects.. 17         Behavior of a Class of Objects.. 18         Creating a Class... 19         Running the Program... 21     Organizing Classes and Class Behavior.. 24         Inheritance.... 24         Creating a Class Hierarchy.. 26         Inheritance in Action... 28         Single and Multiple Inheritance.. 29         Interfaces.... 30         Packages.... 30     Summary..... 31     Q&A...... 31     Quiz...... 32         Questions.... 32         Answers.... 32         Certification Practice... 32     Exercises..... 33 Day 2: The ABCs of Programming                                          35     Statements and Expressions... 36     Variables and Data Types... 36         Creating Variables... 37         Naming Variables... 39         Variable Types.... 39         Assigning Values to Variables.. 41         Constants.... 41     Comments..... 43     Literals..... 44         Number Literals... 45         Boolean Literals... 46         Character Literals... 46         String Literals.... 47     Expressions and Operators... 48         Arithmetic.... 49         More About Assignment.. 51         Incrementing and Decrementing.. 52         Comparisons.... 53         Logical Operators... 54         Operator Precedence... 55     String Arithmetic.... 57     Summary..... 58     Q&A...... 59     Quiz...... 60         Questions.... 60         Answers.... 60         Certification Practice... 60     Exercises..... 61 Day 3: Working with Objects                                                   63     Creating New Objects.... 64         Using new.... 64         What new Does.... 66         A Note on Memory Management. 66     Accessing and Setting Class and Instance Variables 67         Getting Values.... 67         Changing Values... 68         Class Variables.... 69     Calling Methods.... 70         Nesting Method Calls... 72         Class Methods.... 73     References to Objects.... 74     Casting and Converting Objects and Primitive Types 76         Casting Primitive Types... 77         Casting Objects.... 78         Converting Primitive Types to Objects and Vice Versa 80     Comparing Object Values and Classes.. 82         Comparing Objects... 82         Determining the Class of an Object. 84     Summary..... 84     Q&A...... 85     Quiz...... 86         Questions.... 86         Answers.... 86         Certification Practice... 86     Exercises..... 87 Day 4: Lists, Logic, and Loops                                                89     Arrays..... 90         Declaring Array Variables.. 90         Creating Array Objects... 91         Accessing Array Elements.. 92         Changing Array Elements.. 93         Multidimensional Arrays.. 95     Block Statements.... 96     if Conditionals.... 97     switch Conditionals.... 98     for Loops..... 104     while and do Loops.... 107         while Loops.... 107         do-while Loops... 109     Breaking Out of Loops... 109         Labeled Loops... 110         The Conditional Operator.. 110     Summary..... 112     Q&A..... 112     Quiz...... 112         Questions.... 112         Answers.... 113         Certification Practice... 113     Exercises..... 114 Day 5: Creating Classes and Methods                                   115     Defining Classes.... 116     Creating Instance and Class Variables.. 116         Defining Instance Variables.. 116         Class Variables... 117     Creating Methods.... 117         Defining Methods... 118         The this Keyword... 120         Variable Scope and Method Definitions. 121         Passing Arguments to Methods.. 122         Class Methods... 123     Creating Java Applications... 124         Helper Classes... 125     Java Applications and Command-line Arguments 126         Passing Arguments to Java Applications. 126         Handling Arguments in Your Java Application 127     Creating Methods with the Same Name, Different Arguments 128     Constructor Methods.... 132         Basic Constructor Methods.. 133         Calling Another Constructor Method. 133         Overloading Constructor Methods. 134     Overriding Methods.... 136         Creating Methods That Override Existing Methods 136         Calling the Original Method.. 137         Overriding Constructors.. 138     Finalizer Methods.... 140     Summary..... 141     Q&A..... 141     Quiz...... 142         Questions.... 142         Answers.... 143         Certification Practice... 143     Exercises..... 144 Day 6: Packages, Interfaces, and Other Class Features       145     Modifiers..... 146         Access Control for Methods and Variables 146     Static Variables and Methods... 152     Final Classes, Methods, and Variables.. 154         Variables.... 155         Methods.... 155         Classes.... 156     Abstract Classes and Methods... 156     Packages..... 157     Using Packages.... 157         Full Package and Class Names.. 158         The import Declaration.. 159         Class Name Conflicts... 160         A Note About Classpath and Where Classes Are Located 161     Creating Your Own Packages... 162         Picking a Package Name.. 162         Creating the Folder Structure.. 162         Adding a Class to a Package.. 163         Packages and Class Access Control. 163     Interfaces..... 164         The Problem of Single Inheritance. 164         Interfaces and Classes... 164         Implementing and Using Interfaces. 165         Implementing Multiple Interfaces. 165         Other Uses of Interfaces.. 166     Creating and Extending Interfaces.. 166         New Interfaces... 166         Methods Inside Interfaces.. 167         Extending Interfaces... 168         Creating an Online Storefront.. 169     Inner Classes..... 175     Summary..... 177     Q&A..... 178     Quiz...... 179         Questions.... 179         Answers.... 179         Certification Practice... 179     Exercises..... 181 Day 7: Exceptions, Assertions, and Threads                         183     Exceptions..... 184         Exception Classes... 186     Managing Exceptions.... 187         Exception Consistency Checking. 188         Protecting Code and Catching Exceptions 188         The finally Clause... 190     Declaring Methods That Might Throw Exceptions 193         The throws Clause... 193         Which Exceptions Should You Throw?. 194         Passing On Exceptions... 195         throws and Inheritance... 196     Creating and Throwing Your Own Exceptions. 197         Throwing Exceptions... 197         Creating Your Own Exceptions.. 198         Combining throws, try, and throw. 199     When and When Not to Use Exceptions. 200         When to Use Exceptions.. 200         When Not to Use Exceptions.. 200         Bad Style Using Exceptions.. 201     Assertions..... 202     Threads..... 205         Writing a Threaded Program.. 206         A Threaded Application.. 207         Stopping a Thread... 211     Summary..... 212     Q&A..... 213     Quiz...... 214         Questions.... 214         Answers.... 215         Certification Practice... 215     Exercises..... 216 Week II: The Java Class Library                                              Day 8: Data Structures                                                            219     Moving Beyond Arrays... 220     Java Structures.... 220         Iterator.... 222         Bit Sets.... 223         Vectors.... 226         Looping Through Data Structures. 229         Stacks.... 232         Map..... 233         Hash Tables.... 235     Generics..... 240     Summary..... 243     Q&A..... 244     Quiz...... 244     Questions.... 244     Answers..... 245     Certification Practice... 245     Exercises..... 246 Day 9: Working with Swing                                                   247     Creating an Application... 248         Creating an Interface... 249         Developing a Framework.. 251         Displaying a Splash Page.. 253         Creating a Component... 253         Adding Components to a Container. 254     Working with Components... 256         Image Icons.... 257         Labels.... 259         Text Fields.... 259         Text Areas.... 260         Scrolling Panes... 262         Check Boxes and Radio Buttons. 263         Combo Boxes.... 266     Lists...... 267     Summary..... 269     Q&A..... 270     Quiz...... 270         Questions.... 270         Answers.... 271         Certification Practice... 271     Exercises..... 272 Day 10: Building a Swing Interface                                     273     Swing Features.... 274         Setting the Look and Feel.. 274         Standard Dialog Boxes... 277         Using Dialog Boxes... 282         Sliders.... 285         Scroll Panes.... 287         Toolbars.... 288         Progress Bars.... 291         Menus.... 293         Tabbed Panes.... 297     Summary..... 298     Q&A..... 299     Quiz...... 299         Questions.... 299         Answers.... 300         Certification Practice... 300     Exercises..... 301 Day 11: Arranging Components on a User Interface         303     Basic Interface Layout... 304         Laying Out an Interface.. 304         Flow Layout.... 305         Box Layout.... 307         Grid Layout.... 309         Border Layout.... 311     Mixing Layout Managers... 312     Card Layout..... 313         Using Card Layout in an Application. 315     Grid Bag Layout.... 321         Designing the Grid... 323         Creating the Grid... 324         Cell Padding and Insets.. 329     Summary..... 329     Q&A..... 330     Quiz...... 331         Questions.... 331         Answers.... 331         Certification Practice... 331     Exercises..... 332 Day 12: Responding to User Input                                      333     Event Listeners.... 334         Setting Up Components.. 335         Event-Handling Methods.. 336     Working with Methods... 338         Action Events.... 339         Focus Events.... 340         Item Events.... 342         Key Events.... 344         Mouse Events.... 345         Mouse Motion Events... 345         Window Events... 349         Using Adapter Classes... 350     Summary..... 351     Q&A..... 352     Quiz...... 353         Questions.... 353         Answers.... 353         Certification Practice... 353     Exercises..... 355 Day 13: Using Color, Fonts, and Graphics                         357     The Graphics2D Class... 358         The Graphics Coordinate System. 359     Drawing Text..... 360         Improving Fonts and Graphics with Antialiasing 362         Finding Information About a Font. 363     Color..... 365         Using Color Objects... 366         Testing and Setting the Current Colors. 366     Drawing Lines and Polygons... 368         User and Device Coordinate Spaces. 368         Specifying the Rendering Attributes. 368         Creating Objects to Draw.. 371         Drawing Objects... 375     Summary..... 378     Q&A..... 378     Quiz...... 379         Questions.... 379         Answers.... 379         Certification Practice... 379     Exercises..... 380 Day 14: Developing Swing Applications                            381     Java Web Start.... 382     Using Java Web Start.... 385         Creating a JNLP File... 386         Supporting Web Start on a Server. 391         Additional JNLP Elements.. 392     Improving Performance with SwingWorker. 394     Summary..... 399     Q&A..... 400     Quiz...... 400         Questions.... 400         Answers.... 401         Certification Practice... 401     Exercises..... 402 Week III: Java Programming                                                  Day 15: Working with Input and Output                             405     Introduction to Streams... 406         Using a Stream... 406         Filtering a Stream... 407         Handling Exceptions... 408     Byte Streams..... 408         File Streams.... 408     Filtering a Stream.... 413         Byte Filters.... 413     Character Streams.... 422         Reading Text Files... 422         Writing Text Files... 425     Files and Filename Filters... 426     Summary..... 429     Q&A..... 430     Quiz...... 431         Questions.... 431         Answers.... 431         Certification Practice... 432     Exercises..... 432 Day 16: Serializing and Examining Objects                       433     Object Serialization.... 434         Object Output Streams... 435         Object Input Streams... 438         Transient Variables... 441         Checking an Object’s Serialized Fields. 442     Inspecting Classes and Methods with Reflection 443         Inspecting and Creating Classes. 443         Working with Each Part of a Class. 445         Inspecting a Class... 447     Summary..... 449     Q&A..... 449     Quiz...... 450         Questions.... 451         Answers.... 450         Certification Practice... 451     Exercises..... 452 Day 17: Communicating Across the Internet                     453     Networking in Java.... 454         Opening a Stream over the Net.. 454         Sockets.... 459         Socket Servers... 463         Testing the Server... 466     The java.nio Package.... 467         Buffers.... 467         Channels.... 471     Summary..... 481     Q&A..... 481     Quiz...... 482         Questions.... 482         Answers.... 482         Certification Practice... 483     Exercises..... 483 Day 18: Accessing Databases with JDBC                          485     Java Database Connectivity... 486         Database Drivers... 487     The JDBC-ODBC Bridge... 487         Connecting to an ODBC Data Source. 489         JDBC Drivers.... 502     Summary..... 507     Q&A..... 508     Quiz...... 508         Questions.... 508         Answers.... 509         Certification Practice... 509     Exercises..... 510 Day 19: Reading and Writing RSS Feeds                           511     Using XML..... 512     Designing an XML Dialect... 515     Processing XML with Java... 516     Processing XML with XOM... 516         Creating an XML Document.. 518         Modifying an XML Document.. 521         Formatting an XML Document.. 525         Evaluating XOM... 528     Summary..... 530     Q&A..... 531     Quiz...... 531         Questions.... 531         Answers.... 532         Certification Practice... 532     Exercises..... 533 Day 20: XML Web Services                                                535     Introduction to XML-RPC... 536     Communicating with XML-RPC.. 537         Sending a Request... 538         Responding to a Request.. 539     Choosing an XML-RPC Implementation. 540     Using an XML-RPC Web Service.. 542     Creating an XML-RPC Web Service.. 546     Summary..... 551     Q&A..... 551     Quiz...... 552         Questions.... 552         Answers.... 552         Certification Practice... 552     Exercises..... 553 Day 21: Writing Java Servlets and Java Server Pages        555     Using Servlets.... 556     Developing Servlets.... 559         Using Cookies... 565         Using Sessions... 568     JSP...... 572         Writing a JSP Page... 574         Creating a Web Application.. 581     JSP Standard Tag Library... 587     Summary..... 594     Q&A..... 595     Quiz...... 596         Questions.... 596         Answers.... 596         Certification Practice... 597     Exercises..... 597 Appendixes                                                                                                    Appendix A: Using the Java Development Kit     601 Appendix B: Programming with the Java Development Kit   625 Appendix C: This Book’s Website                        649 Index                                                                                                        651 Bonus Material on the Companion CD-ROM CD1  Choosing Java CD2  Writing Java Applets CD3  Regular Expressions CD4  Where to Go from Here: Java Resources 0672329433, TOC, 5/4/2007