Questions for Dr. Horstmann

[Stevens Miller]

Regarding the Core Java series:

1. Might it be possible to sell a subscription to a loose-leaf edition? That way, you could provide the changes from one edition to the next, which would preserve the majority of the countless marginal notes people like me create, and save some paper. (I'm a lawyer, and a lot of my legal reference books are sold this way; it works very well.)

2. Will a future edition have a chapter on functional programming? How do you feel about FP becoming more integrated into Java?

3. Here and there, the books have been critical of some of the language designers' decisions. Have you ever had any feedback from them about those criticisms?

Also want to say that I found "Jave SE 8 for the Really Impatient" a great asset. In many ways, it is the loose-leaf update to Core Java, 9th ed., that I wish I could subscribe to.

[Cay Horstmann]

Hi and thanks for the kind words.

Nowadays, publishers no longer think of pages and leaves. "Electronic first" is the name of the game. I like it because it lets me write shorter books. I could have never published "Java SE 8 for the Really Impatient" as a print-only book. The publisher would not have been able to justify the cost of development and printing for a 150 page book. And with Java 9, yes, there will be a "Java SE 9 for the Incredibly Impatient", or some such thing. It will be maybe 100 pages, so it probably won't be printed at all, or only on demand, since it would look silly on the bookstore shelves.

I understand what you say about making margin notes--that really doesn't work too well with a bunch of PDFs or Safari book pages. And it would work extremely well with loose-leaf pages. But I can't imagine the publisher going for it. I'll ask, though. Maybe there is a way.

Functional programming is now a part of Java, with lambda expressions and streams. I was wondering whether I should have a special chapter on functional programming, but in this edition, I decided against it. When I teach, there are some students who are very intrigued by the theoretical framework of functional programming, but for others, it is a hindrance. They just want to get their job done. And it is so marvelously easy to use lambda expressions for callbacks, comparators, and so on, that they sell themselves. Then I discuss how to write code that consumes and produces lambda expressions, and voilà, now I have taught functional programming, but without the pain.

I might reconsider in a future edition. After all, Core Java has an introduction into object-oriented programming, so why not give equal time to the functional paradigm?

Cheers,

Cay

[Stevens Miller]

Cay Horstmann wrote:...there will be a "Java SE 9 for the Incredibly Impatient", or some such thing. It will be maybe 100 pages, so it probably won't be printed at all, or only on demand, since it would look silly on the bookstore shelves.

Computer books do tend to be hefty, but there are a few shorties I wouldn't be without, like this one.

I understand what you say about making margin notes--that really doesn't work too well with a bunch of PDFs or Safari book pages. And it would work extremely well with loose-leaf pages. But I can't imagine the publisher going for it. I'll ask, though. Maybe there is a way.

It has become a norm for statutory reference texts, for the same reason I think it would be a success for Core Java: the changes are frequent and important. From a publisher's point of view, it turns a single sale into a recurring revenue stream, with (if my math is correct) a higher profit per printed page. I, for one, would happily pay the same price I do already for the full two-volume set, just to get it in three-ring form with the "diffs" for each new version (instead of the whole book).

Looseleaf Law Publications has been doing this for a very long time, with the predictions that law offices would all go paperless not slowing them down. Who knows? Maybe Prentice Hall is bold enough to give it a try.

[Rob Spoor]

Cay Horstmann wrote:And with Java 9, yes, there will be a "Java SE 9 for the Incredibly Impatient", or some such thing. It will be maybe 100 pages, so it probably won't be printed at all, or only on demand

Where can I order my copy?

[Cay Horstmann]

You'll have to wait until the end of the year, despite the title :-)

[Stevens Miller]

Cay Horstmann wrote:You'll have to wait until the end of the year, despite the title :-)

Now that is dripping with irony.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Cay Horstmann wrote:You'll have to wait until the end of the year, despite the title :-)

So how far ahead of the actual issue of Java9 will the book be?

[Cay Horstmann]

The ebook should be out when the API and beta code are stable.

Cheers,

Cay