This book is ideal for experienced programmers who need to work in java to produce serious applications. It is one of the the best books on Java for people that want to write useful server-side java, rather than little toy applets.
I would not recommend this book to someone who has little or no programming experience, or for someone who just wants to make a dull web page more animated.
If you are serious about learning java, and willing to apply time and effort, then this book can help you along the path to becoming an effective developer in java.