Preface

Designed to be your companion, 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).

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).

Java coverage in this book is representative through Java SE 8. However, the primary differences between this Java 8 Pocket Guide and the prior Java 7 Pocket Guide is the addition of the Date and Time API and the Lambda Expressions chapters.

Book Structure

This book is broken into three parts: Part I, Part II, and Part III. Chapters 1 through 8 detail the Java programming language as derived from the Java Language Specification (JLS). Chapters 9 through 19 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 bold
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.
Constant width italic
Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context.

Tip

This element signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note.

Warning

This element indicates a warning or caution.

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Authors

Robert James Liguori is the principal for Gliesian LLC. He is an Oracle Certified Expert, supporting several Java-based air traffic management and safety 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.

Acknowledgments

We extend a special thank you to our editor, Meghan Blanchette. Her oversight and collaboration has been invaluable to this endeavor.

Further appreciation goes out to Michael Loukides (technical editor of the initial Java Pocket Guide), our technical reviewer Ryan Cuprak, 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 original Java Pocket Guide and the Java 7 Pocket Guide.

Most importantly, we thank you for using the book as a reference guide and for loving Java. Feel free to post a picture of yourself with the book on Tumblr. It would be nice to see who is using the book and where it has been (even on vacations). :)

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