Java Threads: Understanding and Mastering Concurrent Programming 3rd Edition

Great! Used this on a graduation project. Minds were blown! Working with threads is a challenge but so rewarding!

No problems, good experience.

I ordered a second hand book, didn't expect a new book.

Still a good book for today.

good

I have both 2nd edition and 3rd edition. I would rate the 2nd edition 4 star as it introduced the explicit lock which is similar to the one introduced, and it explained the advance synchronization scenario fairly clear. The 3rd edition, however, makes me often frustrated. My main complaint is the sample code. Character Typing example used in this book is very boring. Not simple enough as a example but also having little practical value. I found excellen wait and notify sample in 20 line of code online. I was lost when reading the example in this book. Save you money.

<< Review of the 3rd Edition >>This book is written for developers who are targeting the second wave of java programs - Intermediate to advanced level programmers will be able to get best value out of this book. Developers who are already familiar with the basics of java may also be able to get some value, but if you are completely new to java, please look elsewhere.Without any futher ado, i will dive right into the deep end of the pool. This book is partitioned into 4 logical sections, though it is not explicit in the TOC.1. Important Threading Concepts:In this section, the author prepares us with the fundamentals of creating and managing a thread, basic synchronization concepts, synchronized keyword, lock mechanism, thread communication using wait-notify and condition-variables, minimal synchronization using volatile keyword and atomic variables, advanced synchronization classes like Barrier, Semaphore, CountdownLatch, etc. Chapters 1 through 6 underwrite this section and this is by-far the best part of the book.2. Thread Pools/Schedulers:This section first lectures around how thread scheduling materializes in java and how it is related to the underlying Operating System. Next, you are guided through a tour of Thread Pools and Task Schedulers that will enlighten us with quite a few new classes in java 5. Chapters 9 through 11 cover this section.3. Threading and other Java APIs:This section details how the threading API plays with other inbuilt java APIs like Collections, IO and Swing. Chapters 7,8 and 12 cover this section.4. Misc topics:Some miscellaneous thread topics like ThreadGroup, Security, Class Loading, Exception Handling and Performance are addressed in this section. Chapters 13, 14, and 15 cover this section.Though this book wasn't an easy read, i found it extremely encouraging to have ONE comprehensive manual to understand both the threading concepts and the new java 5 inclusions. I recommend this book to anyone who is in the middle of a complex multi-threaded system or wishes to create one.

[A review of the 3RD EDITION 2004].The promise of this book over its earlier editions is the inclusion of the new threading classes under Java 1.5, which is now renamed J2SE 5.0. Personally I think the new acronym is forbidding to newcomers. Just like the HP snake workstations which it called [eg] HP9000/720.If you are migrating to 1.5, then it is at least worth your time to see the new threading and what you can do with it. Like the thread pooling and task scheduling. The intent is to free you from having to hand craft what Sun regards as often needed threading utility functions. And so each developer does not need to waste her time independently recoding. Sun has performed a little refactoring, at the language level.But if you are happy sitting on 1.4, and already have the 2nd edition of this book, then I can't say you really need this edition. Unless you want to see possible advantages in threading if you move.By the way, the book may say threading in Java is easier than in other languages. But that does not mean that threading is easy. The book can give you some appreciation of the nuances involved. In many ways, the issues in the book are far harder than [say] some book on building a UI with Java.