Is the book tailor made for the exam or can I also use it for reference.
The book can definitely be used as a
Java language reference, since it
has very thorough coverage of the core features of the language.
However, it is not suitable as a API reference, since it only covers
the APIs important for the exam.
While adding several hundred pages of API documentation would have
been an easy way of inflating the page count, we don't think that
would have been useful for the reader. The Java class library
API documentation is freely available from Sun, and O'Reilly
has some really great API reference books that would be hard to
compete with.
As it uses UML do i need any prior UML knowledge for this book.
The book does not assume that you know anything about the UML notation.
Basically, instead of inventing our own notation (which some authors do),
we chose to use a standardized notation for our figures.
As an added benefit, people how haven't been seen to UML diagrams before,
will actually learn some UML along the way.
Does your book rely on any particular platform.
No, the book does not rely on any particular platform. While writing
the book the authors regularly used:
MacOSSunOS / SolarisDebian GNU/LinuxMicrosoft Windows Java is a cross-platform language, and its sad to see when it is presented
in a Windows only environment, as is the case with many books.
One unfortunate exception is the Whizlabs exam engine that is
included on the CD-ROM accompanying the book. Their exam engine will
only run on Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
However, the mock exam engine we as authors has included will
run on all platforms with a modern Java VM.