Java in 21 Days, Sams Teach Yourself (Covering Java 8)

Rogers Cadenhead is a programmer and author. He has written more than 30 books on programming and web publishing, including Sams Teach Yourself Java in 24 Hours and Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Minecraft Mods Programming. He also publishes the Drudge Retort and other websites that receive more than 20 million visits a year. 

Introduction




WEEK I: The Java Language 


DAY 1: Getting Started with Java
The Java Language
     History of the Language
     Introduction to Java
     Selecting a Development Tool 
Object-Oriented Programming
Objects and Classes
Attributes and Behavior
     Attributes of a Class of Objects
     Behavior of a Class of Objects
     Creating a Class
     Running the Program
Organizing Classes and Class Behavior
     Inheritance
     Creating a Class Hierarchy
     Inheritance in Action
     Interfaces
     Packages

DAY 2: The ABCs of Programming 
Statements and Expressions
Variables and Data Types
     Creating Variables
     Naming Variables
     Variable Types
     Assigning Values to Variables
     Constants
Comments
Literals
     Number Literals
     Boolean Literals
     Character Literals
     String Literals
Expressions and Operators
     Arithmetic
     More About Assignment
     Incrementing and Decrementing
     Comparisons
     Logical Operators
     Operator Precedence
String Arithmetic 

DAY 3: Working with Objects
Creating New Objects
How Objects Are Constructed 
A Note on Memory Management 
Using Class and Instance Variables
     Getting Values
     Setting Values
     Class Variables
Calling Methods
     Formatting Strings
     Nesting Method Calls
     Class Methods
References to Objects
Casting Objects and Primitive Types
     Casting Primitive Types
     Casting Objects
     Converting Primitive Types to Objects and Vice Versa
Comparing Object Values and Classes
     Comparing Objects
     Determining the Class of an Object

DAY 4: Lists, Logic, and Loops
Arrays
     Declaring Array Variables
     Creating Array Objects
     Accessing Array Elements 
     Changing Array Elements 
     Multidimensional Arrays
     Block Statements 
If Conditionals
Switch Conditionals
The Ternary Operator
For Loops 
While and Do Loops
     While Loops
     Do-While Loops
Breaking Out of Loops 
     Labeled Loops

DAY 5: Creating Classes and Methods
Defining Classes
Creating Instance and Class Variables
     Defining Instance Variables
     Class Variables
Creating Methods
     Defining Methods
     The this Keyword
     Variable Scope and Method Definitions
     Passing Arguments to Methods
     Class Methods
Creating Java Applications
     Helper Classes
Java Applications and Arguments
     Passing Arguments to Java Applications
     Handling Arguments in Your Java Application
Creating Methods with the Same Name
Constructors
     Basic Constructors
     Calling Another Constructor
     Overloading Constructors
Overriding Methods
     Creating Methods That Override Existing Methods
     Calling the Original Method
     Overriding Constructors 

DAY 6: Packages, Interfaces, and Other Class Features 
Modifiers
     Access Control for Methods and Variables
Static Variables and Methods
Final Classes, Methods, and Variables
     Variables
     Methods
     Classes
Abstract Classes and Methods
Packages
     The import Declaration
     Class Name Conflicts
Creating Your Own Packages
     Picking a Package Name
     Creating the Folder Structure
     Adding a Class to a Package
     Packages and Class Access Control
Interfaces
     The Problem of Single Inheritance
     Interfaces and Classes
     Implementing and Using Interfaces
     Implementing Multiple Interfaces
     Other Uses of Interfaces
Creating and Extending Interfaces
     New Interfaces
     Methods Inside Interfaces
     Extending Interfaces
     Creating an Online Storefront

DAY 7: Exceptions and Threads
Exceptions
     Exception Classes
Managing Exceptions
     Exception Consistency Checking
     Protecting Code and Catching Exceptions
     The finally Clause
Declaring Methods That Might Throw Exceptions
     The throws Clause
     Which Exceptions Should You Throw 
     Passing on Exceptions
     throws and Inheritance
Creating and Throwing Exceptions
     Throwing Exceptions
     Creating Your Own Exceptions
     Combining throws, try, and throw
When Not to Use Exceptions
     Bad Style Using Exceptions
Threads
     Writing a Threaded Program
     A Threaded Application
     Stopping a Thread



WEEK II: The Java Class Library


DAY 8: Data Structures
Moving Beyond Arrays
Java Structures
     Iterator
     Bit Sets
     Array Lists
     Looping Through Data Structures
     Stacks
     Map
     Hash Maps
Generics 
Enumerations

DAY 9: Working with Swing
Creating an Application
     Creating an Interface
     Developing a Framework
     Creating a Component
     Adding Components to a Container 
Working with Components
     Image Icons
     Labels
     Text Fields
     Text Areas
     Scrolling Panes
     Check Boxes and Radio Buttons 
     Combo Boxes
Lists
The Java Class Library

DAY 10: Building a Swing Interface
Swing Features
     Standard Dialog Boxes
     Using Dialog Boxes
     Sliders
     Scroll Panes
     Toolbars
     Progress Bars
     Menus
     Tabbed Panes

DAY 11: Arranging Components on a User Interface
Basic Interface Layout
     Laying Out an Interface
     Flow Layout
     Box Layout
     Grid Layout
     Border Layout
Mixing Layout Managers
Card Layout
     Using Card Layout in an Application
     Cell Padding and Insets

DAY 12: Responding to User Input
Event Listeners
     Setting Up Components
     Event-Handling Methods
Working with Methods
     Action Events
     Focus Events
     Item Events
     Key Events
     Mouse Events
     Mouse Motion Events
     Window Events
     Using Adapter Classes
     Using Inner Classes

DAY 13: Creating Java2D Graphics
The Graphics2D Class
     The Graphics Coordinate System
Drawing Text
     Improving Fonts and Graphics with Antialiasing
     Finding Information About a Font
Color  
     Using Color Objects
     Testing and Setting the Current Colors
Drawing Lines and Polygons
     User and Device Coordinate Spaces
     Specifying the Rendering Attributes 
     Creating Objects to Draw
     Drawing Objects


DAY 14: Developing Swing Applications
Java Web Start
Using Java Web Start
     Creating a JNLP File
     Supporting Web Start on a Server
     Additional JNLP Elements
Improving Performance with SwingWorker



WEEK III: Java Programming


DAY 15: Working with Input and Output
Introduction to Streams
     Using a Stream
     Filtering a Stream
     Handling Exceptions
Byte Streams
     File Streams
Filtering a Stream
     Byte Filters
Character Streams
     Reading Text Files
     Writing Text Files
Files and Paths

DAY 16: Using Inner Classes and Closures
Inner Classes
     Anonymous Inner Classes
Closures


DAY 17: Communicating Across the Internet
Networking in Java
     Opening a Stream Over the Net
     Sockets
     Socket Servers
     Testing the Server
The java.nio Package
     Buffers
     Channels

DAY 18: Accessing Databases with JDBC 4.2 and Derby
Java Database Connectivity
     Database Drivers
     Examining a Database
     Reading Records from a Database
     Writing Records to a Database
     Moving Through Resultsets

DAY 19: Reading and Writing RSS Feeds
Using XML 
Designing an XML Dialect
Processing XML with Java 
Processing XML with XOM
     Creating an XML Document
     Modifying an XML Document
     Formatting an XML Document
     Evaluating XOM

DAY 20: XML Web Services
Introduction to XML-RPC
Communicating with XML-RPC
     Sending a Request
     Responding to a Request
Choosing an XML-RPC Implementation
Using an XML-RPC Web Service
Creating an XML-RPC Web Service

DAY 21: Writing Android Apps with Java
The History of Android
Writing an Android App
     Organizing an Android Project
     Creating the Program
Running the App
Designing an Android App 
     Preparing Resources
     Configuring a Manifest File
     Designing the Graphical User Interface 
     Writing Code



APPENDIXES


APPENDIX A: Using the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment 
Installing NetBeans
Creating a New Project 
Creating a New Java Class 
Running the Application 
Fixing Errors 
Expanding and Shrinking a Pane
Exploring NetBeans



APPENDIX B: This Book’s Website 



APPENDIX C: Fixing a Problem with the Android Studio Emulator
Problems Running an App
     Install HAXM in Android Studio
     Install HAXM on Your Computer 
     Checking BIOS Settings



APPENDIX D: Using the Java Development Kit 
Choosing a Java Development Tool
     Installing the Java Development Kit
Configuring the Java Development Kit
Using a Text Editor
Creating a Sample Program
     Compiling and Running the Program in Windows
Setting Up the CLASSPATH Variable




APPENDIX E: Programming with the Java Development Kit
Overview of the JDK
The java Virtual Machine
The javac Compiler
The appletviewer Browser
The javadoc Documentation Tool
The jar Java File Archival Tool
The jdb Debugger
     Debugging Applications
     Debugging Applets
     Advanced Debugging Commands
Using System Properties
The keytool and jarsigner Code Signing Tools