Java 7 Pocket Guide, 2nd Edition

Preface

Designed to be your companion in the office, in the lab, or even on the road, this Pocket Guide provides a quick reference to the standard features of the Java programming language and its platform.

This Pocket Guide provides you with the information you will need while developing or debugging your Java programs, including helpful programming examples, tables, figures, and lists.

It also contains supplemental information about things such as the Java Scripting API, third-party tools, and the basics of the Unified Modeling Language (UML).

Java coverage in this book has been updated for new features through Java SE 7, including basic information on NIO 2.0, the G1 Garbage Collector, and JSR 334: Small Language Enhancements (Project Coin). Project Coin enhancements include improved literals (e.g., use of the underscore character), the new (generics-related) diamond operator, and exception handling extensions (e.g., the new multi-catch and try-with-resources statements).

The material in this book also provides support in preparing for the Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 7 Programmer I Exam. If you are considering pursuing this Java certification, you may also wish to consider acquiring OCA Java SE 7 Programmer I Study Guide (Exam 1Z0-803) by Edward Finegan and Robert Liguori (McGraw-Hill Osborne Media, 2012).

Book Structure

This book is broken into three parts: Language, Platform, and Appendixes. Chapters 1 through 8 detail the Java programming language as derived from the Java Language Specification (JLS). Chapters 9 through 17 detail Java platform components and related topics. The appendixes cover third-party tools and the Unified Modeling Language.

Conventions Used in This Book

The following typographical conventions are used in this book:

Italic

Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.

Constant width

Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords.

Constant width italic

Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context.

Authors

Robert Liguori is a senior software engineer for Solentus. He is an Oracle Certified Expert, supporting several Java-based air traffic management applications. Patricia Liguori is a multi-disciplinary information systems engineer for The MITRE Corporation. She has been developing real-time air traffic management systems and aviation related information systems since 1994.

Safari® Books Online

Note

Safari Books Online (www.safaribooksonline.com) is an on-demand digital library that delivers expert content in both book and video form from the world’s leading authors in technology and business.

Technology professionals, software developers, web designers, and business and creative professionals use Safari Books Online as their primary resource for research, problem solving, learning, and certification training.

Safari Books Online offers a range of product mixes and pricing programs for organizations, government agencies, and individuals. Subscribers have access to thousands of books, training videos, and prepublication manuscripts in one fully searchable database from publishers like O’Reilly Media, Prentice Hall Professional, Addison-Wesley Professional, Microsoft Press, Sams, Que, Peachpit Press, Focal Press, Cisco Press, John Wiley & Sons, Syngress, Morgan Kaufmann, IBM Redbooks, Packt, Adobe Press, FT Press, Apress, Manning, New Riders, McGraw-Hill, Jones & Bartlett, Course Technology, and dozens more. For more information about Safari Books Online, please visit us online.

How to Contact Us

Please address comments and questions concerning this book to the publisher:

O’Reilly Media, Inc.

1005 Gravenstein Highway North

Sebastopol, CA 95472

800-998-9938 (in the United States or Canada)

707-829-0515 (international or local)

707-829-0104 (fax)

We have a web page for this book, where we list errata, examples, and any additional information. You can access this page at http://oreil.ly/Java7_Pkt.

To comment or ask technical questions about this book, send email to [e-mail].

For more information about our books, courses, conferences, and news, see our website at http://www.oreilly.com.

Find us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/oreilly

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/oreillymedia

Watch us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/oreillymedia

Second Edition Acknowledgments

We extend a special thank you to our editor, Meghan Blanchette. Her oversight and collaboration has been invaluable in the endeavor. In this regard, we are very happy with the various improvements, errata updates, and Java SE 7 coverage that we have been able to include in this update.

Further appreciation goes out to our technical reviewers, Ryan Cuprak and Jonathan S. Weissman, as well as the various members of the O’Reilly team, our family, and our friends.

We would also like to thank again all of those who participated with the 1st Edition of the book.