I think this is the best book anyone can begin with. It does not make you to mug up each and every concept but it helps in the making logics why we uses this technique. Writer on every page compares with other languages and shows why we defined one more language instead of using just c+. Yes I do agree too that matter is not sufficient as other writers such as java black book or others but is sufficient and suitable for beginners and after all this the book is defined in 4 sections giving you idea of how to programme simply using core java concepts second secton deals with advanced java then api then at last real software is developed like Internet download manager.