The Waite Group's Java 1.2 how-to

the long version

Copyright 1998, this book covers Java 1.2. The Swing components had just come out. This book is an excellent introduction to the "primitives" of Java programming -- over 100 examples, each is one to three pages of runnable Java code. It has a chapter on Simple I/O, simple graphics, Java Threads, Java Events, AWT GUI, Swing GUI, Networking, and JAR files. While a little dated in 2011, all the examples still run in Java 1.6. Recommended as a useful introduction to the language. Make sure you get the CD with the book.