title: The Java Tutorial: A Short Course on the Basics (5th Edition) (Java Series)
author: Sharon Biocca Zakhour
description: <P style="MARGIN: 0px"> <B>Sharon Biocca Zakhour </B>is a principal technical writer at Oracle Corporation, and was formerly at Sun Microsystems. She has contributed to Java SE platform documentation for more than twelve years, including <I>The Java</I> <B> <I>&trade;</I> </B> <I> Tutorial, Fourth Edition, </I>(Addison-Wesley, 2007), and <I>The JFC Swing Tutorial, Second Edition </I>(Addison-Wesley, 2004). She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.A. in computer science, and has worked as a programmer, developer support engineer, and technical writer for thirty years. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"> <B>Sowmya Kannan </B>was previously a principal technical writer at Oracle Corporation and Sun Microsystems. She is currently the manager of the Java SE documentation team, and has more than fifteen years of experience as a technical writer and developer of middleware and web applications. </P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px">&nbsp;</P> <P style="MARGIN: 0px"> <B>Raymond Gallardo </B>is a technical writer for Oracle Corporation. Previous engagements include college instructor, technical writer for IBM, and bicycle courier. He earned his B.Sc. in computer science and English from the University of Toronto and his M.A. in creative writing from The City College of New York.</P>
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    1. [Preface](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Who Should Read This Book](preface01.xhtml#idm45654236694824)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [New Developments](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [New in This Edition (Java 11, 12, 13, 14)](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-1.1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Using This Book](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-2)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Online Resources](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-3)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Conventions Used in This Book](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-4)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [Using Code Examples](preface01.xhtml#learnjava5-PREFACE-2-SECT-5)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * [O’Reilly Online Learning](preface01.xhtml#idm45654236962648)
  
  