Java I/O, Second Edition - O'Reilly's Latest Release

For Immediate Release
For more information, a review copy, cover art, or an interview with
the author, contact:
Kathryn Barrett (707) 827-7094 or kathrynb@oreilly.com

Mastering the Ins and Outs of Java I/O
O'Reilly Releases "Java I/O, Second Edition"

Sebastopol, CA--Input and output, I/O for short, are fundamental to any
computer operating system or programming language. Only theorists find it
interesting to write programs that don't require input or produce output.
At the same time, I/O hardly qualifies as one of the more "thrilling"
topics in computer science. It's something in the background, something
you use every day--but for most developers," observes Elliotte Rusty
Harold, author of the new second edition of "Java I/O" (O'Reilly, US
$49.99), "it's not a topic with much sex appeal."

But in fact, there are plenty of reasons Java programmers in particular
should find I/O interesting. Java includes an especially rich set of I/O
classes in the core API. These classes support several different styles of
I/O. One distinction is between the old-style stream-based I/O and the
new-style channel- and buffer-based I/O. These all have their place and
are appropriate for different needs and use cases. None of them should be
ignored.

With Java the language of choice for many network applications and servers
buckling under demand, system administrators and programmers are clamoring
for answers. Java's I/O facilities are extraordinarily flexible and simple
to use, and provide everything from simple binary and text output to USB
and Bluetooth communication. There's world-class support for
internationalization, memory-mapped files, asynchronous I/O, and more. Do
you need to encrypt your files and network sockets for privacy and
security? CipherInputStream is what you want. Do you desire smaller, more
compact output? ZipOutputStream is what you're looking for. Is your
network server buckling under the load of many clients? Selectors and
channels could be your salvation.

The problem is how best to use those facilities. Harold explains the
problem, "After writing my earlier book, 'Java Network Programming,' I
noticed that a lot of the questions I got from readers and students in my
classes weren't so much about network programming itself as they were
about input and output (or I/O in programmer vernacular)."

The new edition of "Java I/O" addresses these questions and more. When
asked why a second edition, Harold replied, "In the seven years since the
first edition was released, there've been a lot of new developments in the
field:  java.nio, the Bluetooth API, USB support, and more. I was really
glad to have the opportunity to update the book and bring it into sync
with the state of the art as of Java 6 and 2006. The new edition is
particularly important now as Java 5 and 6 add some surprising and little
known features to I/O. Among them there's finally a Console class and
printf is now supported. File handling is improved as well, though it's
still one of Java's weak spots. A lot of these new features haven't had
the same attention that java.nio did in 1.4. It's nice to be able to bring
a little well-deserved attention to all the hard work that went into I/O
in Java 5 and 6."

When Java 1.1 was released with a vastly expanded java.io package and many
new I/O classes spread out across the rest of the class library, it became
obvious that a book that specifically addressed I/O was required. 'Java
I/O' is that book. More specifically, the second edition is that book
updated and expanded to cover the even more impressive I/O capabilities
introduced in Java 1.4, 5, and 6. The I/O class libraries in Java are more
powerful and interesting than ever, and this book shows readers how to
take full advantage of them.

Java is the first language to provide a cross-platform I/O library that is
powerful enough to handle all the diverse tasks that developers must deal
with. Java is the first programming language with a modern,
object-oriented approach to input and output. Java's I/O model is more
powerful and more suited to real-world tasks than any other major language
used today. "Java I/O" was the first and is still the only book to fully
expose the power and sophistication of this library.

Early praise for "Java I/O, Second Edition":
"Elliotte Rusty Harold is certainly one of the best writers in computer
programming. His attention to detail and care in making his explanations
easy to follow are outstanding."
--Bruce Eckel, author of "Thinking in Java"

Additional Resources:

For more information about the book, including table of contents, index,
author bio, and samples, see:
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/javaio2/

For a cover graphic in JPEG format, go to:
ftp://ftp.ora.com/pub/graphics/book_covers/hi-res/0596527...

Java I/O, Second Edition
Elliotte Rusty Harold
ISBN: 0-596-52750-0, 700 pages, $49.99 US, $64.99 CA
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