He hid his obscure background. He emerged into a society which was pegged for him! And he lived to tell about it -- as did his friends.

This is a collection of recollections about the inimitable Cole Porter, straight from the horses' mouths -- his family, his friends, his collaborators (which he denied having! Cole didn't see any reason not to write words AND music for everything!). It is witty and sad, frank and frivilous and fun. For insight into the life and talent of the man who gave us the songs we hum daily, we sing in the shower, and we spout lines from as if they were common knowledge, this is the source! A highly recommendable read, to be sure -- especially for those who love the music and sophisitication of the era!

Java Swing is the definitive reference for the Graphical User Interface (GUI) Swing package that has been included in the standard distribution of the Java SDK since Java 1.2. The book is really more of a tomb, weighing in at 1200 pages, and yet none of it seems irrelevant or overly explained. If anything, one would have to complain that maybe there are details missing, but given the length of the book as is, maybe it's better that some of the details were left out.

Publishers O'Reilly have obviously assembled a group of talented Java GUI designers to write this book, because the commentary is rife with real advice and coherent, practical explanations. The book does take some assumed knowledge for granted, such as basic programming skills, knowledge of Object-Oriented programming practices, and UML-style class and object relationship graphs, but I wouldn't say that this book excludes the beginner programmer in the least. Instead, it walks the fine line of being a useful book for both beginner and expert coders quite well, better than other O'Reilly publications that I've read in the past that I felt were overly explanatory.

The book starts off with a little history on the Swing package, where it came from and what its relationship to the Abstract Windowing Toolkit (AWT) is, but then almost immediately launches into the format that it uses for the next 900 pages of the book, which is to devote an entire chapter to every major section of swing. Topics covered include: buttons, scrollbar-like components, combo-boxes, containers of every shape and size, dialogs, borders, menus, tables, trees, undo facilities, text (about 220 pages on the major text components alone,) and drag and drop. Each of these sections serves as a useful reference for when you're developing your own GUI applications. The explanations are generally more details and much deeper than those offered in the Javadoc HTML pages provided with the SDK distribution. I've personally used the book on a couple of projects that I've been working on at work, and found that the background given has been incredibly useful, not just for solving problems but for generating ideas for how things could be better. The topic separation is such that you can usually just read the chapter that deals with what you are currently doing, and not have to jump around the book looking for better explanations of the same idea. There is very little overlap in this book, which I consider to be a good thing in a reference book. The final four chapters deal with advanced topics, and a genuinely insightful and useful.

Now for the minor complaints: This book is truly focused on Swing, but sometimes I felt that the focus was just a little too narrow. Mainly my issues come from the authors deciding that AWT is a separate topic from Swing. Thus, any discussions of GUI programming elements that fall under the canvas of AWT are ignored. This is unfortunate, since real-life GUI applications have no choice but to use AWT elements. What's even more unfortunate is that Swing, being built on top of AWT, relies heavily on its architecture. JComponent, the root class of 95% of Swing component, is itself derived from Container and Component, the root classes of AWT. Browsing the O'Reilly catalogue, I failed to notice a book devoted to AWT, though I think it used to exist but has since been discontinued. This leaves me wondering where a GUI programmer should go to get the details needed to do the job. The most obvious omission in my eyes - apart from a discussion of Component and Container - is the failure to properly outline the common LayoutManagers available in Swing. Layout management is a crucial task for GUI programmers, and yet the only mention of them are the new LayoutManagers introduced by Swing. These new managers, however, by no means replace the old AWT managers that are the bread and butter of GUI programming.

My other minor complaint is that the book is cumbersome. This makes it a chore to use, though I fully admit that this is a very minor problem. However, I would have preferred that the publishers ship the book as a two-book set and charged a bit more for it.

Negatives aside, this book is a must-have for Java Swing programmers. The book isn't perfect, but I haven't come across a better reference for the topic.

With the introduction of the Swing graphical toolkit to Java 1.2, developers now have the freedom to write applications with rich graphical user interfaces (GUI). Swing gives Java applications the professional edge that has long been shared by their C++, VB & Delphi counterparts, and goes further with a huge range of new components and controls, and customizable "look-and-feels". But while Swing may be the way of the future for developers, its a steep learning curve because of the complexity of the Swing toolkit. That's where "Java Swing", published by O'Reilly, comes in.

Java Swing, at a whopping 1200+ pages, is a fantastic reference that you'll keep within arms reach as you program in Swing. But the book is more than just an API reference - its a combined tutorial and book of examples. Aside from the first few chapters, which provide a basic grounding for the rest of the book, you can skip from chapter to chapter as your needs dictate. It covers all the major component groups, as well as providing useful examples and code snippets.

My one complaint about this title is that it appears to have covered the entire swing library, and in doing so the authors tried to put just too many topics into it. Perhaps it needs to be split into two volumes, but while working through the book as part of a programming project, I found that there were some areas where a more thorough treatment should have been given (in particular, the chapter on trees which provides not enough detail, and only very simple examples). That said, "Java Swing" is a fantastic resource, both as a reference and an overview/tutorial of Swing, and is the best Swing book available to-date  (as of February 1999).

Pavel Vorobiev and I are currently finishing up an 'advanced' Swing book consisting mainly of examples ("Swing", Manning publications). We have referenced the Swing source code nonstop. Apart from this, we feel that Java Swing is the best Swing reference money can buy. This book is not an API docs dump. It is a high quality reference book for GUI developers who are prepared to do their job professionaly, not blindly. If you are looking for a hand-holding tutorial this book is not for you (for this I would suggest Up to Speed With Swing).

Java Swing is very well organized and full of original explanation. I encourage potential readers to disregard other comments claiming that this book is API repetitive or doesn't explain enough. No book can cover every possible situation that can arise in the creation of a GUI, and no book will fully explain all of the inner workings of each Swing component and UI delegate. Swing is a very complex and extensive library with some very interesting and powerful mechanisms working behind the scenes. Without a doubt, Java Swing is the most informative and rich reference available. I recommend it highly.

Matthew Robinson
"Swing", Manning publications
Swing "Tips and Tricks", The Swing Connection

I bought this book for my trip to Kenya Uganda and Tanzania. I thought that I might want to travel to Ethiopia or down to Zambia and Zimbabwe....this guide is much too condensed to be helpful, and most travelers I met hated this guide and would borrow or end up buying the LP East Africa guide. You would be much better off buying a regional guide rather then this monster. Just the weight of the book alone isn't worth carrying around with you. I actually ended up ripping this book to shreads and keeping only about ten pages of it then buying the more in depth East Africa Guide.

Don't get me wrong, I love the lonely planet guides. Just not this one. I can whole heartedly recomment the East Africa guide and the Trekking East Africa guide.

This book, "Africa on a Shoestring, 9th Ed" has a broad coverage; although its chapters are not as detailed as many tourists would expect them to be.
Again, this book would have been of better psychic value, had its authors showed confidence in the sections they dealt with. Its 'information' became a wet blanket for me. Many readers who intend to visit African countries are likey to be discouraged by its relentless pessimistic approach. Its outlook is more critical than 'touristical'. The general impression is this: "something good may not come out of Africa". That is shameful! The term "bush-taxi", which was used over and over again, in lieu of a more cordial 'local-taxi' sounds offensive.
I think that if written (or revised) without assumptive bias, this book would be of better quality and value to its users.

Africa is large, and it's hard or impossible to concentrate so much information and advice into one book. Yet, Lonely Planet - as always - managed to do this with great muster. Unless you have time and money to buy the many LP guides to single regions and countries of Africa, this is the book you want before you even plan of visiting the black continent !

I agree with Texas. Mr. Cole has potential however, his first book is just that a first attempt. I read his second book "Where's the Beef? The Mad Cow Disease Conspiracy" and found it more original and interesting. He seems to be onto something with that one. It is written in first person and avoids many of the writing cliches that his first book fell victim to.

Mr. Cole has a wonderful command of language and constructs marvelously intricate plots. However, in this foray into science fiction, he left something behind. Everything was so predictable as the story unfolded. The future earth was a thinly disguised Orwellian structured society. It just didn't jell at all. And, the publisher apparently decided not to use a proofreader. I found that mmore aggravating than the tedious plot. I feel like correcting it and sending it to the publishing house.

I agree with the customer from Blanco Texas that Dreamweaver's author is skilled in many ways but that this first novel only alludes to the potential he may have. I have read his secons book, "Where's the Beef? The Mad Cow Disease Conspiracy" and found it very original and exciting. He has avoided many of the cliches that inhibited his first book. I did find Dreamweaver very interestingand thought that it had the makings for a good screenplay.

Writing from a by-spirits-possessed perspective, David Cole attempts to trace the development of Theatre from its origins in early humans to the present. It insists upon mystical terminology to describe the workings of theatre and uses them as something more than mere metaphor. It is a nice discussion for what it is, but it seems to think that this metaphor is the correct one.

David Cole's masterful 1975 opus represents a refreshingly original approach to the study of theatrical expression. His meticulously considered hermeneutics of the theatre do not detract from his elegant prose; his love of his subject shines throughout. This text is truly "brashly opinionated and eminently well argued," as the book's jacket jubilantly proclaims, and upon each rereading Dr. Cole offers fresh insights for the theatre connoisseur in all of us.

As usual, Lonely Planet have attacked this project with vigour and research and produced a comprehensive guide to the Middle East. However, as is the problem with the "Shoestring" editions, a vast amount has to be left out, an enormous of amount of information must be precised in order to produce a managable, helpful guide for a region. Local knowledge of an area is vital to ensure that the correct points, places of interest and general information are included. Unfortunately, LP have hit slightly wide of the mark with this region. It is an area which is full of history and a culture that is very sensitive to the western ideals and my advice would be to purchase each country's book separately. Whilst this is a more expensive and even bulky alternative, simply sell, swap or send home the discarded books.

I understand that LP are in the process of producing further separate guides thus breaking down this region again, which will be excellent. The guide itself, however, is a good read though!

As with the vast majority, but not all, books that bite off huge taxonomic groups this one fails to provide detailed updated information on this group but does provide an overview and excellent illustrations. If you desire more than the basics purchase Johnsgard's books or some other title that limits its treatment. If its the basics that you desire its worth the money.

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!
This by far the worst book I have come accross in my life.
I am a mechanical engineer taking statistics for my MBA. Fortunately I have a very good intstructor so I dont even use the book.
Its worthless. Seems like the author is talking to himself.

Do NOT buy this book. I am sure the author understands a lot about statistics but he definitely does not know how to organize its ideas. The book makes the subject appear much more complex than it really is. If you need to learn statistics are not a Statistics PhD student then what I really recommend you to do is to get another book. For MBA students: This book is way more complex than you will need to know for your studies.

It's hard to believe that a Wharton professor produced this book but I guess it's just proof that no school is perfect. I'm sure the authors understand statistical analysis but they have no clue how to organize the material or communicate what they know effectively. Honestly, even if you have learned the concepts for a chapter through another source this book can be hard to follow.

Want an example of the murky text? Try this typical run-on sentence quoted directly from the book. "In the same way, the normal random variable is an abstraction, because in theory any numerical value, negative as well as positive, is possible, and the probability histogram is a smooth, symmetric, bell-shaped curve." Try stringing together 800 pages of similar prose and you have an idea what awaits you here.

I watched an entire class including the professor disown this book because it was useless. Do yourself a favor and avoid this turkey if at all possible.