In Brief
Three popular books to start learning Java:
- Java: A Beginner’s Guide (8th Edition) by Herbert Schildt
- Core Java Volume I–Fundamentals (11th Edition) by Cay S. Horstmann
- Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (7th Edition) by Ben Evans and David Flanagan
Reading List
Java: A Beginner’s Guide (8th Edition)
by Herbert Schildt
Series: Beginner’s Guide
Paperback: 720 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education; 8 edition (November 2, 2018) ISBN-10: 1260440214 | ISBN-13: 978-1260440218
Java: The Complete Reference (11th Edition)
by Herbert Schildt
Paperback: 1248 pages
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education; 11 edition (December 12, 2018) ISBN-10: 1260440230 | ISBN-13: 978-1260440232
Java in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference (7th Edition)
by Ben Evans and David Flanagan
Paperback: 458 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media; 7 edition (December 23, 2018) ISBN-10: 1492037257 | ISBN-13: 978-1492037255
Core Java Volume I–Fundamentals (11th Edition)
by Cay S. Horstmann
Series: Core Java
Paperback: 928 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall; 11 edition (August 27, 2018) ISBN-10: 0135166306 | ISBN-13: 978-0135166307
Core Java, Volume II–Advanced Features (11th Edition)
by Cay S. Horstmann
Paperback: 960 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall; 11 edition (May 5, 2019) ISBN-10: 0135166314 | ISBN-13: 978-0135166314
Learn Java 12 Programming: A step-by-step guide to learning essential concepts in Java SE 10, 11, and 12
by Nick Samoylov
Paperback: 690 pages
Publisher: Packt Publishing (April 30, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1789957052 | ISBN-13: 978-1789957051
Sams Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days (Covers Java 11/12) (8th Edition)
by Rogers Cadenhead
Series: Sams Teach Yourself
Paperback: 720 pages
Publisher: Sams Publishing; 8 edition (December 30, 2019)
ISBN-10: 0672337959 | ISBN-13: 978-0672337956
Hands-On Design Patterns with Java: Learn design patterns that enable the building of large-scale software architectures
by Dr. Edward Lavieri
Paperback: 360 pages
Publisher: Packt Publishing (April 27, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1789809770 | ISBN-13: 978-1789809770
Java Design Patterns: A Hands-On Experience with Real-World Examples (2nd Edition)
by Vaskaran Sarcar
Paperback: 536 pages
Publisher: Apress; 2nd edition (December 7, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1484240774 | ISBN-13: 978-1484240779
Beginning Spring 5: From Novice to Professional (1st Edition)
by Joseph B. Ottinger and Andrew Lombardi
Paperback: 364 pages
Publisher: Apress; 1st edition (September 23, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1484244850 | ISBN-13: 978-1484244852
Mastering Microservices with Java: Build enterprise microservices with Spring Boot 2.0, Spring Cloud, and Angular (3rd Edition)
by Sourabh Sharma
Paperback: 446 pages
Publisher: Packt Publishing (February 26, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1789530725 | ISBN-13: 978-1789530728
Practical Microservices Architectural Patterns: Event-Based Java Microservices with Spring Boot and Spring Cloud
by Binildas Christudas
Paperback: 902 pages
Publisher: Apress; 1st edition (June 27, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1484245008 | ISBN-13: 978-1484245002
Continuous Delivery in Java: Essential Tools and Best Practices for Deploying Code to Production (1st Edition)
by Daniel Bryant and Abraham Marín-Pérez
Paperback: 482 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media; 1 edition (November 29, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1491986026 | ISBN-13: 978-1491986028
Discussion
Recent releases of Java include:
- Java SE 12 / March 19, 2019
- Java SE 11 / September 25, 2018
- Java SE 10 / March 20, 2018
- Java SE 9 / September 21, 2017
- Java SE 8 / March 18, 2014
- Java SE 7 / July 28, 2011 (not actively supported)
When shopping for a book on Java, make sure that the book covers your preferred version of Java. Many software developers are still using Java 8 in Production environments. Java 8 is still supported for now, as Java 8 and 11 are defined as Long Term Support (LTS) versions. The last Java enterprise edition release from Oracle was Java EE 8.
By the way, if you’re going to be programming extensively in Java, explore different IDEs to find the right fit for your working style. Most developers use either IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse IDE.