Rating: 

This is the first book on Swing that I have read, though perhaps the 10th on Java, and I have been using Swing since the first beta was available.

I think the authors should be commended for really examining each class that is presented, and the sample programs to exercise the "little" classes really show good preparation. I think the size of the sample code is perfect to explain a concept without getting bogged down in the details of a toy application.

The book is organized in a "bottom up" fashion, so the TableColumn class is explained before JTable (for example). This provides consistante explanations, but it does mean deferring the motivation for learning something until the end.

The biggest problem is with the Text/Editor classes. Here there are 200 pages of preliminary information before you get to JEditorPane, and then the authors stop and say the class is too buggy to explain. I can't blame the authors for JDK problems, but I think a "top down" explanation might work better with this very complex set of classes. On the other hand, if we ever do get a version ofJEditorPane that can display HTML without throwing exceptions, these chapters will provide good background material.

I learned things from almost every chapter, it is a very good reference.