Originally posted by Bert Jansch:
Does anyone know if the SAMS 21 day guides are any good? ...
If your goal is a quick topical introduction to Java, then yes, the SAMS 21-Day books are good.If your goal is to pass the SCJP exam, then no, the SAMS 21-Day books are not very helpful (unless you just use them as a quick introduction before moving on to more comprehensive references).These books are basically crash courses on the basics, but won't take you very far beyond that. When I was first learning Java, I
did use a SAMS 21-Day book to fill in some of the gaps left by my other texts. (For example, the SAMS book was very helpful for a beginner trying to install the SDK and set the PATH variable on a Windows machine.) But it really didn't go into the concepts and the details that you need for the SCJP exam.