Java is one of the most widely used programming languages.In this article, we will cover some of the best Java books available in the market.

Introduction

We are breaking this article into 3 different categories and will discuss some of the best Java books available.We are dividing our selection into following categories.

• Beginners.
• Intermediate Learners
• Advanced Learners.

1. Beginners

1.1. Head First Java

This is the best book for a beginner.If you starting with Java, I will highly recommend starting with this book.Although this book is not in line with latest Java release, it got everything to jump-start your journey. 

1.2. Java: The Complete Reference

The latest edition of this books covers Java 8.It covers both basics and advanced concepts with great detail and explains how to develop, debug and run Java programs.

• Data types, variables, operators etc.
• Classes, object, methods etc.
• Overloading, overloading, and inheritance.
• Exception handling.
• Generics and Multithreaded programming.

1.3. Core Java™, Volume I—Fundamentals

Another good book that provides detail explanation of the Core Java.This book does not cover Java 8 but I believe it’s a good read.

• Understand how encapsulation, classes, and inheritance work in Java.
• Understanding of interfaces, inner classes etc
• Write safer, more readable programs with generics and strong typing.

1.4. Java Cookbook

Java Cookbook contains details for Lambda as well other features of Java 8.This book is really great to learn useful techniques for everything from debugging and data structures to functional programming.

1.5. Thinking In Java

If you’re starting out, it’s definitely worth reading.This book does not cover the latest Java version but still cover Java core concepts at a good level.

1.6. Java 8 in Action

Java 8 in Action covers the new features introduced in Java 8.This book covers lambadas, streams, and functional-style programming.

Some of the topics covered in this book

• Java 8 features.
• Functional-style programming.
• In-depth coverage of lambda expressions.

Other References::

•  Java in a Nutshell.
• Java: A Beginner’s Guide.
• Java 8 Lambdas.

2. Intermediate Learner

2.1. Effective Java 

This is a must-read book for intermediate and advanced readers.It covers core Java topics like

• Generics
• Methods
• Object life cycle
• Best practices.

This book does not cover Java basics and can be read once you have a fundamental understanding of core Java.

[pullquote align=”normal”]3rd edition covers Lambdas and Streams introduced in Java 8. [/pullquote]

2.2. Java Concurrency in Practice

Read this book to get a complete understanding of Java Concurrency.This book covers a very deep and subtle topic in a very clear and concise way, making it the perfect Java Concurrency reference manual.It provides you with the concepts and techniques needed to write safe and scalable Java programs for today’s—and tomorrow’s—systems.

2.3. Java Performance

Java Performance provides in-depth insight into the JVM.It will give details about

• Powerful insights into microbenchmark including how to avoid common mistakes in the Java code.
• Tuning the Java HotSpot VM for startup, memory footprint, response time, and latency.
• Optimizing the performance of the Java HotSpot VM.
• Gaining “under the hood” knowledge of the Java HotSpot VM that can help you address most Java performance issues.
• Mastering Java method and heap (memory) profiling.

2.4. Java Generics and Collections

This book covers both generics and collections in detail.It covers useful practices related to generics as well as outlining which collections to use in different situations. This book provides insight into advantages and strengths of each major Java standard collection as well as the drawbacks of each.

Other References::

• The Java Programming Language.
• The Well-Grounded Java Developer.

3. Advance

3.1. Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases

Read this book if you want to understand how well do you really know Java? This book features 95 diabolical puzzles that educate and entertain. Anyone with a working knowledge of Java will understand the puzzles, but even the most seasoned veteran will find them challenging.

Summary

In this post, we covered best Java books available for beginner, intermediate and advanced users.If you think some other book must be part of this list, please let me know through comments.