Java just keeps growing, adding features, functionality, complexity, and tempting developers to growl with frustration. The new 1.4 release of Java 2 Standard edition increases the size of the platform by 50%, to 2757 classes in 135 packages. How are you going to figure out what this means for your applications? As always, Java in a Nutshell has the answers. The new 4th edition still contains an accelerated introduction to the Java programming language and its key APIs so you can start writing code right away. And with more than 250 new pages, author David Flanagan quickly brings you up to speed on new features that come with version 1.4:

* High-performance NIO API
* Support for pattern matching with regular expressions
* A logging API
* A user preferences API
* New Collections classes
* An XML-based persistence mechanism for Java Beans
* Support for XML parsing using both the DOM and SAX APIs
* User authentication with the JAAS API
* Support for secure network connections using the SSL protocol
* Support for cryptography

The book contains O’Reilly’s classic quick-reference for all the classes in the essential Java packages, so you can dive in and find what you need to make the new 1.4 version work for you. For as long as Java developers have existed, Java in a Nutshell has been ready, willing and able to take you right to the heart of the program, turning those frustrated grrrrss into purrrss of satisfaction. No wonder readers of Java Developer’s Journal voted this the “Best Java Book” the past two years in a row!