Other Java Websites
Because so much of the Java phenomenon was originally inspired by its use on web pages, a large number of websites focus on Java and Java programming.
This Book’s Official Site
This book’s official website is www.java24hours.com and is described fully in Appendix C, “This Book’s Website.”
Café au Lait
Elliotte Rusty Harold, the author of several excellent books on Java programming, offers Café au Lait, a long-running weblog covering Java news, product releases, and other sites of interest to programmers. The site is a terrific resource for people interested in Java and is published at www.cafeaulait.org. Harold also offers a list of frequently asked questions related to Java. Updates have been infrequent since he began an overhaul of the site, but it may have been relaunched by the time of this writing.
Workbench
I also publish a weblog, Workbench, which covers Java, Internet technology, computer books, and similar topics along with other subjects. You can find it at http://workbench.cadenhead.org.
Java 7 Developer Blog
Java developers Ben Evans and Martijn Verburg have been following the progress of Java 7 on their Java 7 Developer Blog, which is online at www.java7developer.com. There are code examples that demonstrate new features of the current language release, tips for using them effectively, and discussion of features expected to be in Java 8.
Other Java Weblogs
Hundreds of other weblogs cover Java programming, either as their primary focus or part of more diverse subject matter. The search engine IceRocket provides a tagged list of the latest weblogs to write about Java at www.icerocket.com/tag/java.
InformIT
The tech reference site InformIT, available at www.informit.com, is a comprehensive resource supported by the publisher of this book. The site devotes sections to more than a dozen subjects related to software development and the Internet. InformIT’s Java section includes how-to articles and a beginner’s reference.
Stack Overflow
The online community Stack Overflow is a place where programmers can ask questions and rate the answers provided by other users. The site is tagged, so you can narrow your search to the language or topic that’s of interest. To see Java-related questions, visit http://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/java.
Java Review Service
The Java Review Service reviews new programs, components, and tools that are published on the Web, recognizing some as Top 1%, Top 5%, or Top 25%. Resources also are categorized by topic with a description of each resource and links to download the source code, if it is available. To visit, direct your web browser to www.jars.com.
JavaWorld Magazine
A magazine that has been around since the inception of the language, JavaWorld, publishes frequent tutorial articles along with Java development news and other features. There’s also video and audio podcasts. Visit www.javaworld.com.
Developer.com’s Java Directory
Because Java is an object-oriented language, it’s easy to use resources created by other developers in your own programs. Before you start a Java project of any significance, you should scan the Web for resources you might be able to use in your program.
A good place to start is Developer.com’s Java directory. This site catalogs Java programs, programming resources, and other information at www.developer.com/java.
For a more interactive place to seek guidance from Java programmers, try Twitter, the popular microblog service used by millions of people to send short messages to their friends and others who follow them.
The #java hashtag identifies messages related to Java—though some might reference the island of Java or coffee because hashtags are informal and user-created.
To search Twitter for the most recent messages about Java, load http://search.twitter.com in a web browser and search for #java.