Rating: 

I've been waiting for this book since I first picked up The Perl Cookbook, so I purchased it as soon as I saw it was out.

The disadvantage of The Java Cookbook vs. The Perl Cookbook is the requirements and scope of the language. With only The Perl Cookbook in my hand (plus some online documentation), I was able to achieve some pretty useful tasks in a very short time. With the Java Cookbook, I've found I've had to do a lot more digging. In fact, halfway through the Java Cookbook, I ended up purchasing Java Swing, as recommended by the author. And I still have a long list of complementary books I still need to pick up.

I would discourage anyone from using this book as an intro to Java. Although the first chapter seems aimed at the new user, many of the complexities of Java are deferred to other books (in general, a good idea for a cookbook). I'm not saying a beginner wouldn't benefit from this book, but that this book would probably be better utilized as a companion to a more standard introductory book.

But for those who have already waded through countless java books looking for answers, this one, much like its perl counterpart, cuts right to the chase and gets to the point. Organized by task, you can easily jump to the section you need. Answers are strait-forward, and easy to understand.

I also very much enjoyed Ian Darwin's writing style - very personable, and easy to understand. You can tell he enjoys the language, and wants to help you do the same.

Yet another excellent book from O'Reilly!