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Murach’s Java Programming (6th Edition)

by Joel Murach
19 chapters, 682 pages, 276 illustrations
Published January 2022
ISBN 978-1-943872-87-9
Print: $59.50
eBook: $54.50
Print + eBook: $72.00

This is the 6th Edition of our best-selling Java book. Since 2001, it has been used by thousands of beginning and experienced programmers to master the Java skills that are essential, whether you’re creating desktop, web, or mobile applications. Now revised to cover Java SE 17 and updated throughout, it focuses on today’s best practices, covers both NetBeans and Eclipse, and makes it easier than ever to learn Java, even if you’ve never programmed in any language before.

College Instructors

Go to our instructor’s site to learn more about this book and its instructor’s materials.

 

I love your Java book. It cuts right to the essential information, providing the perfect balance between too many details and too little information. I bought another well-known Java book, but I spent several hours trying to learn what I learned from your book in about 45 minutes."

Posted at an online bookseller

  • About this Book
  • Table of Contents
  • FREE Downloads
  • Book FAQs
  • Corrections
  • Reviews

What to expect from this book

Get a quick start

You’ll be writing your first complete Java applications at the end of chapter 2!

Build realistic applications

By the end of chapter 9 (section 1), you’ll know how to use Java classes, objects, and methods to write applications that validate user input and use files to store your data.

Work more efficiently by using an IDE

Starting from chapter 1, you’ll take advantage of the time-saving features that an IDE provides as you use NetBeans or Eclipse to create, compile, run, test, and debug Java applications.

Make sense out of object-oriented programming

Chapter 7 introduces you to object-oriented programming (OOP), including the concept of encapsulation. Then, chapters 10 and 11 (section 2) explain inheritance and polymorphism in a way that cuts through the mystery and confusion these subjects can cause. At the end, you’ll know how to develop real-world, object-oriented, business applications.

Create user-friendly GUIs

Section 3 shows how to develop attractive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with JavaFX, a modern library that’s designed to replace the aging Swing library.

Master essential professional skills

In section 4, you’ll learn more Java skills that you’ll use all the time, like extra skills for working with strings, collections, lambdas, recursion, algorithms, dates, times, and databases. Each chapter in this section is independent of the others, so you can add these skills to your resume whenever you need them.

Work with databases like a pro

To complete your OOP training, chapter 19 shows you how to write database classes that map objects to a relational database. First, you’ll learn how to use SQL to work with a SQLite database. Then, you’ll learn how to use JDBC to work with any database.

Profit from our time-saving format and practical applications

All the content is in our distinctive paired-pages format, where each topic is presented in a two-page spread: the examples and reference material are on the righthand page with additional explanation on the left. This helps you learn faster by reading less...and it’s the ideal reference format when you need to refresh your memory about how to do something.

As for the examples, they include complete programs that build from the simple to the complex. We believe that studying the code for complete, real-world programs like these is critical. They tie all your newfound skills together to build your confidence and competence…unlike the trivial examples that you so often find in Java tutorials.

Who this book is for

This book is for anyone who wants to learn the essentials of Java programming. It works:

    • if you have an aptitude for problem-solving but no programming experience at all
    • if you have programming experience with another language
    • if you already know an older version of Java and you want to update your skills
    • if you’ve already read 3 or 4 other Java books and still don’t know how to develop a real-world application

If you want to go into mobile or web development using Java…

This book is a favorite among developers who are moving into programming Android apps or Java web applications. Chapters 1-11 deliver the essential Java skills that you need, whether you’re looking for a first course in Java or a refresher.

What’s NEW in this edition

This book has been updated from Java SE 9 to SE 17, which is the current long-term support (LTS) release. As part of this update, we have streamlined this book to do a better job than ever of setting the right pace for beginners.

New book features

  • Eclipse coverage has been integrated into the book.
  • Scanner object coverage has been simplified to make it easier and less error-prone to get input from the console.
  • The coverage of arrays, array lists, and file I/O has been simplified. These subjects are also presented earlier to make the book applications in section 1 more realistic.
  • JavaFX coverage has been expanded and is presented earlier.
  • There’s a new chapter on recursion and algorithms to help beginners learn about these important programming concepts.

New Java features

  • Type inference lets you write code that’s more concise and easier to maintain
  • Arrow labels provide a more concise and less error-prone way to write switch statements
  • Switch expressions provide a more concise way to write switch statements that set the value of a variable
  • Pattern matching with the instanceof operator provides a more concise way to get objects that match a specified type
  • Records provide a concise way to code immutable objects that you can use to transfer data
  • Sealed classes provide a new way to control how inheritance hierarchies work

What software you need

This book teaches you how to develop Java applications using:

  • Java Standard Edition (Java SE)
  • NetBeans or Eclipse

Although this book covers Java SE 17, the code it presents will work with future versions of Java. In addition, this book clearly notes which features have been added since SE 9, which makes it possible to use this book with earlier releases too.

Beyond that, using the time-saving features of an IDE is not only the professional approach, it’s also the easiest and best way to learn Java. That’s why this book shows how to use NetBeans and Eclipse, the two most popular IDEs for Java development.

Appendix A (Windows) and Appendix B (macOS) in the book explain how to install the software, all of which is free.

What people say about this book

“If you’re a Java virgin like I was before reading this book, then you’re going to love it. I had a development environment up & running within half an hour and was dabbling with code 15 minutes after that!”
- Andy Bonner, vbcity.com

"One of the things I really like is that this book uses an IDE to teach Java to the next generation of programmers. A lot of books on Java focus on the language itself [as though] an IDE plays no role in learning Java. Any professional programmer will tell you that an IDE is absolutely essential in making you more productive."
- John Yeary, Java Evangelist

“I love the 2-page style that you use in your Java book. It is such a great way to organize the lessons.”
- Dave Merton, Director of Development, Connecticut

"I bought this book to brush up on my Java programming skills in preparation for doing some Android programming. This book brought me up to speed really fast."
- Posted at an online bookseller

“This book really delivers for beginners in Java programming. It provides great exercises for you to use on your IDE and has them in an order that makes sense.”
- Posted at an online bookseller

"Ever have someone come in your office with a Java question, and you reach for a certain book that you know has the answer in it? Murach’s Java Programming is the resource that supplies these answers, both quickly and completely. If this book isn’t on your bookshelf, you should get it there."
- Robert Liguori, Tech Center Java User Group

“If I’d seen this book first, I would not have wasted money (and time) on 6 other books!”
- Posted at an online bookseller

"The information is so clear, it beats what I read in the Java tutorials on the Oracle web site. Once again, a Murach book adds clarity that’s hard to find elsewhere."
- Programmer, Denver, Colorado

“Terrific - Fantastic - Superlative! WELL worth several times the purchase price.”
- Posted at an online bookseller

 

View the table of contents for this book in a PDF: Table of Contents (PDF)

Click on any chapter title to display or hide its content.

Section 1 Essential concepts and skills

Chapter 1 An introduction to Java

An overview of Java

Java timeline

Java editions

How Java compares to C++ and C#

Types of Java applications

Two types of desktop applications

Web applications and mobile apps

An introduction to Java development

The code for a console application

How Java compiles and interprets code

How to use the command prompt to compile and run a Java application

An introduction to Java IDEs

How to get started with NetBeans

An introduction to NetBeans

How to open and close a project

How to compile and run a project

How to work with the Output window

How to create a new project

How to get started with Eclipse

An introduction to Eclipse

How to open and close a project

How to compile and run a project

How to work with the Console window

How to create a new project

Chapter 2 How to write your first applications

Basic coding skills

How to declare a class and a main() method

How to code statements

How to code comments

How to work with numeric variables

How to declare and initialize variables

Rules and recommendations for naming variables

How to code arithmetic expressions

How to work with string variables

How to declare and initialize a string

How to join and append strings

How to include special characters in strings

How to use classes, objects, and methods

How to import classes

How to create objects and call methods

How to use the console for input and output

How to print output to the console

How to read input from the console

How to code simple control statements

How to compare numeric variables

How to compare string variables

How to code if/else statements

How to code while statements

Two illustrative applications

The Invoice application

The Test Score application

Two more skills for the road

How to test and debug an application

How to view the documentation for a class

Chapter 3 How to work with the primitive data types

Basic skills for working with data

The eight primitive data types

How to declare and initialize variables

How to declare and initialize constants

How to code arithmetic expressions

How to use the binary operators

How to use the compound assignment operators

How to use the unary operators

How to work with the order of precedence

How to work with casting

More skills for working with numbers

How to use the Math class

How to use the NumberFormat class

How to print formatted output to the console

The Invoice application with formatted output

How to debug a rounding error

Chapter 4 How to code control statements

How to code Boolean expressions

How to use the relational operators

How to use the logical operators

How to work with if/else statements

How to code if/else statements

How to work with braces

How to code nested if/else statements

How to work with switch statements and expressions

How to code switch statements

How to use arrow labels with switch statements

How to code switch expressions

The Invoice application with a switch expression

How to work with loops

How to code while loops

How to code do-while loops

How to code for loops

The Future Value application

How to code nested loops

How to code break and continue statements

How to code break statements

How to code continue statements

The Guess the Number application

Chapter 5 How to code methods and handle exceptions

How to code and call static methods

How to code static methods

How to call static methods

The Future Value application with a static method

The Guess the Number application with static methods

How to handle exceptions

How exceptions work

How to catch exceptions

How to prevent exceptions

How to validate data

How to validate a single entry

How to code a method that validates an entry

The Future Value application with data validation

The console

The code

Chapter 6 How to test and debug an application

Basic skills for testing and debugging

Typical test phases

The three types of errors

Common Java errors

A simple way to trace code execution

How to use NetBeans to debug an application

How to set and remove breakpoints

How to step through code

How to inspect variables

How to inspect the stack trace

How to use Eclipse to debug an application

How to set and remove breakpoints

How to step through code

How to inspect variables

How to inspect the stack trace

Chapter 7 How to code classes

An introduction to classes and objects

How classes can be used to structure an application

How encapsulation works

The relationship between a class and its objects

How to code a class that defines an object

The Product class

How to code instance variables

How to code constructors

How to code methods

How to create an object and call its methods

How to work with static fields and methods

How to code static fields and methods

How to call static fields and methods

The ProductDB class

The Product Viewer application

The console

The code

More skills for working with objects and methods

Reference types compared to primitive types

How to code a copy constructor

How to overload methods

How to use the this keyword

The Line Item application

The console

The class diagram

The code

Chapter 8 How to work with arrays and array lists

How to work with an array

How to create an array

How to assign values to an array

How to use loops with arrays

How to work with rectangular arrays

How to use the Arrays class

How to fill, sort, and search arrays

How to refer to, copy, and compare arrays

The Number Cruncher application

How to work with an array list

A comparison of arrays and array lists

How to create an array list

How to add and get elements

How to replace, remove, and search for elements

How to store primitive values in an array list

The Invoice application

The console

The Invoice class

The InvoiceApp class

Chapter 9 How to work with file I/O and exceptions

Introduction to file I/O

How files and streams work

A file I/O example

How to use a try-with-resources statement to handle I/O exceptions

How to work with text files

How to connect a character output stream to a file

How to write to a text file

How to connect a character input stream to a file

How to read from a text file

The ProductDB class

The Product Manager application

The console

The ProductManagerApp class

How exceptions work

The exception hierarchy

How exceptions are propagated

More skills for working with exceptions

How to declare a method that throws an exception

How to throw an exception

How to use the methods of an exception

How to code a finally block

Section 2 Object-oriented programming

Chapter 10 How to work with inheritance

An introduction to inheritance

How inheritance works

How the Object class works

Basic skills for working with inheritance

How to create a superclass

How to create a subclass

How polymorphism works

The Product application

The console

The Product class

The Book and Software classes

The ProductDB class

The ProductApp class

More skills for working with inheritance

How to cast objects

How to check the type of an object

How to compare objects for equality

How to define a custom exception

How to work with abstract, final, and sealed classes

How to work with abstract classes

How to work with the final classes, methods, and parameters

How to work with sealed classes

How to work with records

An introduction to records

How to use and customize records

Inheritance vs composition

When to use inheritance

When to use composition

Chapter 11 More skills for object-oriented programming

An introduction to interfaces

A simple interface

Interfaces compared to abstract classes

How to work with interfaces

How to code an interface

How to implement an interface

How to inherit a class and implement an interface

How to use an interface as a parameter

How to work with default and static methods

How to work with enumerations

How to declare an enumeration

How to use an enumeration

How to enhance an enumeration

How to work with packages and libraries

An introduction to packages

How to use NetBeans to work with packages

How to use Eclipse to work with packages

How to work with libraries

How to work with modules

An introduction to the module system

How to create and use modules

How to use javadoc to document a package

How to add javadoc comments to a class

How to generate Java documentation

How to view the documentation

Section 3 GUI programming

Chapter 12 How to get started with JavaFX

An introduction to GUI programming

A GUI that displays ten controls

A summary of GUI frameworks

The inheritance hierarchy for JavaFX nodes

How to start a JavaFX project

How to use NetBeans

How to use Eclipse

How to create a GUI that accepts user input

How to create and display a window

How to work with labels

How to set alignment and padding

How to work with text fields

How to set column widths

How to create a GUI that handles events

How to work with buttons and boxes

How to handle action events

The Future Value application

How to validate user input

How to display an error message in a dialog box

How to validate the data entered into a text field

The Validation class

How to validate multiple entries

Chapter 13 More skills for working with JavaFX

Seven more JavaFX controls

How to work with check boxes

How to work with radio buttons

How to work with combo boxes

How to work with date pickers

How to work with list views

How to work with text areas and scroll bars

The Social Media Signup application

The user interface

The code

Section 4 More concepts and skills

Chapter 14 More skills for working with strings

How to work with the String class

How to compare strings

How to work with string indexes

How to modify strings

How to work with the characters in a string

The Create Account application

The user interface

The CreateAccountApp class

More skills for working with strings

How to work with text blocks

How to split and join strings

How to format strings

The Hangman application

The user interface

The WordList class

The Hangman class

The HangmanApp class

How to work with the StringBuilder class

An introduction to StringBuilder objects

How to use a StringBuilder object with a loop

Chapter 15 More skills for working with collections

An introduction to collections

The Java collection framework

More about generics

How to work with a linked list

How to create a linked list and add and get elements

How to replace, remove, and search for elements

The Invoice application

How to sort the items in a collection

How to sort a collection of numbers or strings

How to sort objects by implementing the Comparable interface

How to sort objects with a custom comparator

How to work with stacks and queues

How to work with a stack

How to work with a queue

How to use generics to create a custom collection

How to work with maps

The HashMap and TreeMap classes

Code examples that work with maps

The Word Counter application

Chapter 16 How to work with lambda expressions and streams

How to work with lambda expressions

Anonymous classes compared to lambdas

Pros and cons of lambda expressions

A method that doesn’t use lambdas

A method that uses lambdas

The syntax of a lambda expression

How to use functional interfaces from the Java API

How to use the Predicate interface

How to use the Consumer interface

How to use the Function interface

How to work with multiple functional interfaces

How to work with streams

How to filter a list

How to map a list

How to reduce a list

Chapter 17 How to work with recursion and algorithms

An introduction to recursion

How to add a range of numbers

How to compute the factorial of a number

Common recursive algorithms

How to implement the binary search algorithm

How to calculate a value in the Fibonacci series

How to decide if you should use recursion

The Directory Search application

How to use the File class

The algorithm

A directory tree

The console

The code

Chapter 18 How to work with dates and times

An introduction to date/time APIs

The date/time API prior to Java 8

The date/time API for Java 8 and later

How to use the new date/time API

How to create date and time objects

How to get date and time parts

How to compare dates and times

How to adjust dates and times

How to add or subtract a period of time

How to get the time between two dates

How to format dates and times

An Invoice class that includes an invoice date

Chapter 19 How to work with a database

How a relational database is organized

How a table is organized

How the columns in a table are defined

How tables are related

How to use SQL to work with a database

How to query a single table

How to join data from two or more tables

How to add, update, and delete data in a table

How to use DB Browser for SQLite

An introduction to SQLite

How to use DB Browser to view and edit a table in a SQLite database

How to use DB Browser to run SQL statements

How to create a SQLite database

An introduction to database drivers

Four types of JDBC database drivers

How to download a database driver

How to add a database driver to a project

How to use JDBC to work with a database

How to connect to a database

How to return a result set and move the cursor through it

How to get data from a result set

How to work with prepared statements

How to insert, update, and delete data

A class for working with a database

The ProductDB class

Code that uses the ProductDB class

Appendices

Appendix A How to set up Windows for this book

How to install the JDK

How to install the source code for this book

How to install Netbeans

How to install Eclipse

How to install DB Browser for SQLite

Appendix B How to set up macOS for this book

How to install the JDK

How to install the source code for this book

How to install Netbeans

How to install Eclipse

How to install DB Browser for SQLite

Sample chapter

Chapter 1: An introduction to Java

To give you an idea of how well this book works, you can download this chapter and try it out. It gets you started right by giving you some background on Java and showing you how to use an IDE to create, work with, compile, and run Java projects. By the end, you’ll be ready to start writing your own Java programs.

Chapter 1 PDF Download Now

Book applications and exercises

This download includes:

  • The source code for the applications presented in the book
  • The starting code for the exercises at the end of each chapter
  • The solutions to the exercises

All the code is provided in both NetBeans and Eclipse formats.

All book files: Zip file Download Now

On this page, we’ll be posting answers to the questions that come up most often about this book. So if you have any questions that you haven’t found answered here at our site, please email us. Thanks!

There are no book corrections that we know of at this time. But if you find any, please email us, and we’ll post any corrections that affect the technical accuracy of the book here. Thank you!

ahmed helmy

Tuesday, 25 October 2022

I bought this book and many others through Amazon. Murach books are great source of learning. There special way of teaching any topic make it easier. But it isnot enough currently to teach same topics and just updating new additions.
Of course they added Python and R. Topics like Java needs more additions. It is not enough to cover Java changes and updates. Before , servlets and JSP were topics that was taught and now, topics like spring Boot and Microservices dominates JAVA use and must replace the servlets and jsp books.

Antony H

Friday, 15 July 2022

Excellent as always. You can trust the content to be to the point and relevant. I know the scope of the book is the core of programming in Java but I have some complaints in that there is no coverage of intelliJ or Java with Spring, React or Angular which are relevant in today's job market.. so it lost a quarter star for a total of 4.75

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