Frank,

I was curious when or if Oreilly has plans to upgrade the Java in a Nutshell book. Our company instructs people on various subjects in the UNIX world, and we try to give out one of your books to every student.

I asked a telephone rep once before, and they said they Oreilly was thinking about splitting up this book into a couple different books (Since the topics had grown.) Is this the case, and if so, how long do you expect that to take?

Please keep churning out these great books, our company and students love them! Heck, I only own say, 10 or 15.

Jason Hoffman

Dear Jason:

Only 10 or 15, and we "churned out" 68 new titles and new editions only last year? I feel bad keeping you reading your email: you should be out buying more of our books!

As for Java in a Nutshell: yes, we are updating that august tome to cover the Java 1.2 -> 2.0 release. David Flanagan is working on it. It will be out later this year. I know you'd like to see it sooner, but David Flanagan is working on other projects, as you'll see in this message.

But don't despair. We have a product coming out this month to satisfy your Java 2.0 information needs. It's called the Java Power Reference, and it's also the creation of David Flanagan. Here's what our web site says about it:

"Java Power Reference is a searchable, browser-based resource that documents all the packages and classes of the Java 2™ platform on a single CD-ROM. Based on the clear, concise quick-reference style of the bestselling Java in a Nutshell, the Java Power Reference provides a unique view of the functionality of the Java APIs. In addition to the CD-ROM, the package contains a concise printed overview of the newly released Java 2 platform."

This product is the ideal overview of the new Java 2 technology; it's on a CD; and it's fully searchable. Best of all, it will be in stores this month, so you don't have to wait for the third edition of Java in a Nutshell. At $19.95 a copy, every student can have one.

Yes, also, to your question about splitting up Java in a Nutshell. Java is growing like the U.S. economy, and we can't fit all the information into one volume, even in the condensed form our "in a Nutshell" books are known for. We've already released the first volume of this new strategy: Java Examples in a Nutshell. That book contains many expanded and updated examples that no longer fit into the second edition of Java in a Nutshell. It includes many new examples as well.

In addition, we're planning some other Java "in a Nutshells". The next one you'll see is Java Enterprise in a Nutshell. That will be out this Spring. About a month later, you'll see Java Foundation Classes in a Nutshell. At that point, we'll have gone from one Java in a Nutshell to four. It will be up to Java and Sun to determine if that number will suffice.

After those books come out, we'll be working on the next edition of Java in a Nutshell.

We believe we have the best Java books in the most readable and usable formats, and we're unwilling to cede that position. I think you'll have to agree that we're hardly standing still. Now get out to your friendly neighborhood bookstore and beef up that O'Reilly collection, Jason.

Frank Willison
Editor-in-Chief

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