Up until this point, most Java programming books attempt to make the reader believe that Java is the way-of-the-future and that all other languages are soon to become obsolete. Not so with this book. The author presents Java with all of its warts while continually comparing it to C++ and sometimes C. He admits not being a fan of Java and assumes you are only interested in learning it because your superiors are forcing a Java project upon your OpenVMS system (this is probably more true than not).