Direct from the creators of the Java(tm) programming language, this Third Edition of The Java(tm) Programming Language is a valuable resource for both novice and advanced programmers. More than 100,000 developers who programmed with C, C++, Smalltalk, or other high-level languages have used this book to get a concise, intelligent, and deep understanding of the Java programming language. This book is what you need to understand the basic design goals of the language and the application of the language in real-world development. It provides unique insights into why and how the language was designed and intended to be used. The authors describe the latest version of the language, as defined in the Java(tm) Language Specification, Second Edition and implemented in version 1.3 of the Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition. This third edition has been structured to give more in-depth treatment of the newer language features, as well as informative examples on using some of the new APIs. New and/or revised in this edition: more details on language features, including an expanded section on nested classes more comprehensive treatment of garbage collection and related programming issues coverage of new APIs, such as collections and internationalization Thoroughly revised from start to finish, this edition fully covers the features of the current release of the Java programming language and class libraries. The book serves as a tutorial introduction to the language and essential libraries as well as a reference. Experienced programmers will find this new edition to be a valuable reference, and will gain new insights into the subtleties of the language. Novice and intermediate programmers will benefit from the valuable examples and clear explanations of language and library features. Make sure you understand the contents of this book before you begin any serious development for the Java platform.

Ken Arnold 曾任 Sun 公司研究中心的高級工程師，是麵嚮對象設計與實現方麵首屈一指的專傢。他曾經是 Jini 技術的架構師之一、 Sun 公司 JavaSpaces 技術的首席工程師。

James Gosling 是 Sun 公司院士和該公司開發平颱組（ Developer Platform Group ）的 CTO 。他設計瞭 Java 程序設計語言，實現瞭最初的 Java 編譯器和虛擬機，最近他正緻力於 Java 實時規範（ Real-Time Specification for Java ）的相關工作。他是計算機界最受尊敬的程序員之一，曾榮獲 Software Development 雜誌評選的“程序設計傑齣大奬”（1996 年）。

David Holmes 是澳大利亞布裏斯班的 DLTech 公司的董事。他專攻同步與並發問題，是開發瞭最新的 Java 並發工具的 JSR-166 專傢組的成員。他還參與瞭 Java 實時規範的修訂工作，在過去的幾年中他一直緻力於該規範的實現工作。