Chapter 1. Introduction

This book is designed to help you make the most effective use of the Java™ programming language and its fundamental libraries, java.lang, java.util, and, to a lesser extent, java.io. The book discusses other libraries from time to time, but it does not cover graphical user interface programming or enterprise APIs.

This book consists of fifty-seven items, each of which conveys one rule. The rules capture practices generally held to be beneficial by the best and most experienced programmers. The items are loosely grouped into nine chapters, each concerning one broad aspect of software design. The book is not intended to be read from cover to cover: Each item stands on its own, more or less. The items are heavily cross-referenced ...

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