Java Reference
In-Depth Information
Afterword
Writing—and updating—this topic has been a humbling experience. It has taken far longer
than I had predicted, or than I would like to admit. And, of course, it's not finished yet. Des-
pite my best efforts and those of the technical reviewers, editors, and many other talented
folks, a book this size is bound to contain errors, omissions, and passages that are less clear
than they might be. Do let us know if you happen across any of these things; you can enter
them at the
book's errata page
. Subsequent editions will incorporate changes sent in by read-
ers just like you!
It has been said that you don't really know something until you've taught it. I have found this
true of lecturing, and find it equally true of writing.
I tell my students that when Java was very young, it was possible for one person to study
hard and know almost everything about Java. After a release or two, this was no longer true.
Today, nobody in his or her right mind would seriously claim to “know all about Java”—if
they do, it should cause your “bogosity” detector to go off at full volume. And the amount
you need to know keeps growing. How can you keep up? Java books? Java magazines? Java
courses? Conferences? There is no single answer; all of these are useful to some people.
Oracle and others have programs that you should be aware of:
▪ The
Oracle Java Technology Network
,
a free web-based service for getting the latest
APIs, news, and views.
▪ Over Java's lifetime, the publishing industry has changed a lot. There used to be several
Java-related magazines published in print, some of whose articles would appear on the
Web. Today there are, so far as I know, no print magazines dedicated to Java. Oracle cur-
rently (2014) publishes the online-only
Java Magazine
every two months with technical
articles on many aspects of Java; see
the magazine's website
to download a PDF of the
latest issue.
▪ The
Java Community Process
, the home of Java standardization and enhancement
