1. Chapter 1 Java in Review

   1. Core Concepts

   2. Syntax Issues

   3. Access Issues

   4. Common Mistakes

2. Chapter 2 The Final Story

   1. Final Constants

   2. Final Variables

   3. Final Parameters

   4. Final Collections

   5. Instance-Scoped Variables

   6. Final Classes

   7. Final Methods

   8. Conditional Compilation

   9. Using final as a Coding Standard

3. Chapter 3 Immutable Types

   1. Fundamentals

   2. Immutable Problems

   3. Immutable or Not

4. Chapter 4 Collections

   1. Collection Concepts

   2. Implementations

   3. Choosing a Collection Type

   4. Iterating Collections

   5. Collection Gotchas

5. Chapter 5 Exceptional Code

   1. Two Types of Exceptions

   2. When to Use Exceptions

   3. Finally for Closure

   4. Exceptional Traps

6. Chapter 6 Nested Classes

   1. Inner Classes

   2. Limited-Scope Inner Classes

   3. Static Nested Classes

   4. Double Nested Classes

   5. Nested Classes in Interfaces?

   6. Nested Interfaces

   7. Nested Class Rules

7. Chapter 7 All About Constants

   1. Substitution Constants

   2. Bit Fields

   3. Option Constants

   4. Constant Objects

   5. Constant Encapsulation

8. Chapter 8 Data Modeling

   1. The Requirements Document

   2. Natural Language Modeling

   3. Aspects of Well-Designed Data Models

   4. Reusable Data Constraints

   5. Persistence

9. Chapter 9 Practical Reflection

   1. The Basics

   2. Reflection and Greater Reflection

   3. Applying Reflection to MutableObject

   4. Performance of Reflection

   5. Reflection + JUnit = Stable Code

10. Chapter 10 Proxies

    1. What Is a Proxy?

    2. Two Kinds of Proxies

    3. Proxy Gotchas

11. Chapter 11 References in Four Flavors

    1. The Problem

    2. Java Reference Concepts

    3. The Java Reference Classes

    4. Practical Applications

    5. A Weak Listener

    6. When to Use References

12. Chapter 12 Tiger: JDK 1.5

    1. New Language Features

    2. Generics

    3. Other Improvements in Tiger

1. Colophon

Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects. The animal on the cover of Hardcore Java is a lion. The lion (Panthera leo) is the largest of the African carnivores. Males, distinguished by their tawny manes, can weigh up to 500 pounds; the smaller, maneless females can weigh up to 300 pounds. Both sexes are powerfully built. Their muscular bodies can take down such large prey as buffalo, giraffe, and young elephants, but they usually hunt medium- to large-sized herd animals, such as antelopes and gazelles.

The regal designation "king of the jungle" is a misnomer. Lions tend to live on the open plains throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Nor are they the ferocious, man-eating beasts portrayed in old stories and movies. Though lions have been known to attack humans when provoked, their lifestyle is surprisingly laid-back. They love to lie around and snooze in the sun, and are active for only two to four hours a day. They hunt in groups, usually at night. A pride consists of 12 females that are closely related and up to 6 males.

While their day-to-day life may be easygoing, the mating rituals of lions are often savage and deadly. Males mate with females of their pride. The toughest males can take over a pride by expelling other males in bloody, often fatal, fights. These males are then expelled by younger, stronger males within 1 to 10 years. New males not only kill off their rivals, but they also kill the pride's cubs to ensure that the females will once again be ready to breed, thereby guaranteeing that their genes will be passed on.

The lion's most prominent trait, its bloodcurdling roar, is used by both males and females during mating and to keep other predators at a distance. A roar will often begin with a low rumble and slowly build to a deafening crescendo before subsiding. Matt Hutchinson was the production editor and copyeditor for Hardcore Java. Mary Brady proofread the book. Sarah Sherman, Mary Brady, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. John Bickelhaupt wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

Melanie Wang designed the interior layout, based on a series design by David Futato. This book was converted by Julie Hawks to FrameMaker 5.5.6 with a format conversion tool created by Erik Ray, Jason McIntosh, Neil Walls, and Mike Sierra that uses Perl and XMLtechnologies. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Matt Hutchinson and Genevieve d'Entremont.