Designed primarily for education, Java the UML Way teaches the essentials of Java programming from scratch. The book fully embraces object-orientation, introducing its essential concepts as early as possible, and using UML (Unified Modelling Language) terms and diagrams to illustrate key points. However, the main focus is firmly on Java, and this is not a UML tutorial. It is translated from Norwegian, although this English edition has an extra chapter covering Servlets and JavaServer Pages.

Each chapter in Java the UML Way follows the same pattern. They open with a set of learning goals, proceed step by step through the material with plenty of illustrations and program listings, and close with a summary review and a set of problems to tackle. The book is divided into three sections. The first covers basics from data types to loops and arrays. The second is intermediate and looks at object to object relationships, reading and writing to files, inheritance and polymorphism, and building graphical interfaces with Swing. Finally, the last section studies more advanced topics such as thread programming, data structures like trees and linked lists, applets, database programming, and web applications. Aside from its one chapter on JSP, the book sticks with Java fundamentals rather than topics like J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) or J2ME (Java 2 Micro Edition). The authors do not assume the use of any particular development tool beyond the Java SDK, although the illustrations show the WinEdit text editor.

This title is solid rather than exciting, and it's a shame the authors don't do more with the UML aspect or look at other areas like design patterns. Even so, it is ideal for structured teaching, either in a classroom setting or as a stand-alone tutorial for individuals. --Tim Anderson