Head first Java
by Kathy Sierra · first published 2003
71% recommend26% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Friendly, humorous, picture-heavy introduction to Java and object-oriented programming that repeats key points until they stick; suits complete beginners and non-programmers as a first step before heavier books.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Highly acclaimed introductory Java book.
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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I know you're asking about "place", but ... Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates' "Head First Java" book. Her SCJP book is also pretty good, but it's more skewed towards the certification exam.
on “Ask HN: Where is the best place to learn Java?” ↗Kashif: 1) Head First Java 5 1) Effective Java The strategy here is to study both interchange; once you learned a topic from HF Java 5, check the best practice in Effective Java. 2) Head First JSP/Servlet 2) Any Struts 2 book…
on “Ask YC: Best book for Java” ↗there is an oreilly head first Java book: http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596009205
on “Java Programming Book For Begineers Knowing Nothing When Starting” ↗read the book "Java Head First" from OReilly http://www.amazon.de/Head-First-Java-Bert-Bates/dp/059600920... absolutely brilliant and funny at the same time! why java? because you have to learn the basics. So better learn the pain-in-the-ass-way as your program basics, then you will…
on “Learning to Program: How Should I Start on This Project?” ↗…(http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-Edition-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0...). The 4th edition is the most current. However, previous ones are available for free here: http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads.html. Another good introductory text is Head First Java (http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-2nd-Edition/dp/0596009...). In terms of frameworks, I would recommend checking out Play! (http://www.playframework.org/) for web applications. Spring is a bit more…
on “Ask HN: How to get started in Java Development?” ↗Have you read "Head First Java" by Kathy Sierra? Data Structure & Algorithms book written in "Head First" format maybe pretty cool. I wonder if you could re-format your book in that manner?
on “The Computer Science Handbook: First Draft [pdf]” ↗…beginning now. Edx's Systematic Programming Design series uses Racket and is a sound introductory course. Another approach is via printed books. I am a big fan of O'Rielly's Head First series. In particular, Head First Java not because Java is the wind beneath my wings but because Kathy Sierra is an excellent author and the series is based to some extent on her work. Good luck.
on “Ask HN: It's 2015 and I still can't program” ↗I personally quite liked Java: The Complete Reference by Herbert Schildt – as the name suggests, it covers most of the topics relevant to Java developers, including some outdated ones. Head First Java by Kathy Sierra is also a decent introduction to the language, though much more limited and outdated. Oracle also has on-line Java tutorial which I regularly visit during development. However the content…
on “Ask HN: What is the best resource to learn JAVA” ↗1. Head First Java 2. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code 3. Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture
on “Ask HN: What are the 3 programming books you learned the most from? Mine” ↗* Introduction to Java Programming and Data Structures * Head First Java * Think Java * Clean Code * Pragmatic Programmer * Effective Java * Refactoring * Java Concurrency in Practice * Test Driven * Head First Design Patterns * Release It! * Kotlin in…
on “Best Java Books in 2019” ↗Head First Java. Possibly anything by Kathy Sierra.
on “Which programming book you just couldn’t stop reading from start to end?” ↗Is the 1st edition a very good book? I've heard about it but never checked it out. My current favorite is Head First Java. I've successfully helped 2 non-hackers to learn Java with it. The casual (even comic) writing style is really easy to read.
on “Java Developers rejoice, Effective Java 2nd Edition by Joshua Bloch has gone to press” ↗…video lectures which are nice since I get tired of reading 600+ page books. http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput... -Another resource that I found very helpful is a book called Head First Java, I'm not really into Java but the first few chapters give a great overview of Object Oriented programming. I wasn't sure what the difference between a class and object were, and I was unsure about other…
on “What coding language should I start with?” ↗I love the Head first series books. Even though I already had experience with other languages when I started, Head First Java explained things clearly and enjoyably! http://amzn.to/ybDBJv
on “Best book to study Java” ↗I can't recommend Head First Java enough - initially I thought it was too whimsical and lacked depth, but it goes over key points simply and repeatedly until you understand them. If you have OOP experience then a lot of the first half…
on “Best book to study Java” ↗