Java Network Programming

The one serious shortcoming of this book is that it does not include a companion disk, which is the case with most O'Reilly books. You'll have to visit the publisher's FTP site for the code if you dislike typing the examples manually. On the whole, though, this is an excellent tutorial that will guide you through the world of Java networking as smoothly as possible.

Product Description
The new third edition of this highly regarded introduction to Java networking programming has been thoroughly revised to cover all of the 100+ significant updates to Java Developers Kit (JDK) 1.5. It is a clear, complete introduction to developing network programs (both applets and applications) using Java, covering everything from networking fundamentals to remote method invocation (RMI).Java Network Programming, 3rd Edition includes chapters on TCP and UDP sockets, multicasting protocol and content handlers, servlets, multithreaded network programming, I/O, HTML parsing and display, the Java Mail API, and the Java Secure Sockets Extension. There's also significant information on the New I/O API that was developed in large part because of the needs of network programmers.This invaluable book is a complete, single source guide to writing sophisticated network applications. Packed with useful examples, it is the essential resource for any serious Java developer.

The overviews of IO and Threading in the first couple of chapters can really solidify these topics if you are sketchy on them. The rest of the book is dedicated to going over the .net classes & explaining each one, providing in depth/useful examples for each.

The appendix of the book give a good enough overview of RMI & JavaMail, more than enough to get you going using either package.

While this is not a book for total beginners, if you need to learn the .net package, or want to take your Java skills to the network, buy this book!


Comprehensive reference (3rd Edition)   November 23, 2004
E. Wuehler (Portland, OR)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

If you're doing anything with Java and Network I/O programming, the topic will most likely be covered in this book. The author does a great job describing not only how Java handles network programming, but the concepts and details of network programming in general. The book takes the core java.net classes and describes each method, what it does, how to use it, what to watch for, code examples, etc - it takes the API Javadoc and expands upon it.

It's a great Java Network API reference book.


In-depth API coverage   November 10, 2004
Jack D. Herrington (Silicon Valley, CA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

The value of this book is in the depth of the coverage it gives to every topic. As opposed to the usual code fragments glued together with the necessary minimum of expository text, this book takes it's time to explain topics in detail. It's clear that in it's third revision the author has learned how to teach the Java network APIs.

Topics covered include both client and server code with sockets and UDP, non-blocking I/O, and protocol and content handlers, as well as many others. This is very in-depth, very well written with effective use of graphics. And better yet you will learn about the protocols themselves as well as the APIs.

This is an outstanding book, easily the best book, on the Java network APIs.


Up to date, complete and thorough   February 5, 2001
Cees van Barneveldt (Webster, NY USA)
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

This book covers all the important things to know about network programming in JDK1.3 and Java2. The content and quality is how you expect it from O'Reilly books: thorough, complete, practical with clear examples, and with a good theoretic foundation.

The first three chapters provide theory about basic network and web concept and explains what you can do with Java networking. A lo of very interesting things, and that motivated me to read further. Chapter 4 and 5 are about Java I/O and threads and might be redundant for Java programmers, who already know basic Java stuff. But those chapters are necessary to understand the examples in all the following chapters. Chapter 6-19 deal with all the various networking topics and Java classes that deal with URL's, Internet addresses, sockets and datagrams, protocol and content handlers, RMI and JavaMail. The organization of these last chapters is topical; in most of the times you can understand a chapter without reading the previous ones, just pick out the one that you are interested in. (Interesting chapter about parsing HTML with JEditorPane, Swing has some unexpected applications!)

I think the author gave a complete and thorough coverage of all the necessary topics. The author does not stray from its topics, is sometimes a bit dry in his explanations, and gives some important side information, e.g. about security aspects of the different Java versions in regards to RMI.

Take in mind that this is the second edition from August 2000, updated to Java2, with some 200 or more extra pages, and we can use this book for the next couple of years.


Good intro to Java network programming   July 22, 2000
Mark Rogers
12 out of 14 found this review helpful

I had a couple years experience with Java, but knew nothing about network programming. I bought this book, and started writing fairly sophisticated network code (chat rooms, online games, web browsing software, etc.) by the time I was halfway through. I wouldn't recommend this book to Java beginners, but I would definitely recommend it to more experienced Java coders who are new to network programming. Since some readers have complained that this book is out of date, I would remind everyone that a new edition is due out in August of 2000. Don't be swayed by anyone who rates this book solely on the basis that it is outdated; just hold out for the second edition.