About This Draft

This document was last updated: 9 July 96

This is a draft of The Java Tutorial: Object-Oriented Programming for the Internet, a practical, online guide to writing programs in the Java language.

Note: This document reflects the 1.0.2 Java Developers Kit release.


This Is a Work in Progress!

This tutorial is a work in progress. At any time, it might be incomplete or buggy, and may contain bad links. We make interim versions of this tutorial available to you for two reasons:
  1. So you can learn from it -- some of the information in this tutorial is not documented anywhere else.
  2. So we can get feedback on this tutorial.
To help us with #2, please let us know what's confusing in these lessons, what seems unnecessary, and whether the lessons helped you at all. Write us at tutorial@java.sun.com or, if that doesn't work, java@java.sun.com. When sending us e-mail, please tell us which version of the tutorial you're using. For the online tutorial, tell us the "last updated" date that's at the top of this page.

How to Get the Tutorial

The Java Tutorial lives at our Web site along with all of our other documentation. You can read it "over-the-wire" by clicking on this link to the tutorial's Trail Map or you can download the tutorial in HTML or PostScript formats.

What's new ?

9 July 96 -- Maintenance on the Sixth DRAFT. This is the version of the tutorial that is on the book's CD-ROM. A number of small problems with links, particularly links to the API document, were fixed. No content changes were made. The on-line and downloadable versions were put back in sync.

6 June 96 -- Released the Sixth DRAFT. This draft is the version on which the book version is based. The book and online versions aren't exactly the same -- for example, none of the copyeditor's changes have made it into the online tutorial yet. Also, the online tutorial's figures haven't been updated to be the same as those in the book. Notable content changes since the fifth draft include:

28 Mar 96 -- Released the Fifth DRAFT. Many pages in this draft have been rewritten or expanded upon. (If you've sent us comments and don't see them reflected in this draft, please don't be insulted -- we haven't finished incorporating reviewer comments.) Some of the notable changes include:

4 Mar 96 -- Released the Fourth DRAFT Among the normal bug, typo and broken link fixes, this draft includes revisions to many of our old trails and lessons, plus this new material:

24 Feb 96 -- Released the Third DRAFT Among the normal bug, typo and broken link fixes, this draft includes revisions to many of our old trails and lessons, plus this new material:

23 Jan 96 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

18 Jan 96 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

12 Dec 95 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

13 Nov 95 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

2 Oct 95 -- Released the Second DRAFT

18 May 95 -- Released the First DRAFT

Downloading the Tutorial

UNIX

UNIX users can download a compressed tar file containing the tutorial in HTML format or in PostScript format. Note that our PostScript files are generated from HTML using Jan Kärrman's wonderful html2ps script.
HTML format
Approximate size when compressed: 2.0 MB
Approximate size when uncompressed: 3.8 MB
PostScript format
Approximate size when compressed: 2.0 MB
Approximate size when uncompressed: 17.9 MB

Windows 95/NT

Windows 95/NT users can download a zip file containing the tutorial in HTML format or in PostScript format.

Warning: These files DON'T WORK if you use an unzip utility that requires files to have 8.3 names. Instead, use an unzip utility such as winzip95.

HTML format
Approximate size when compressed: 1.7 MB
Approximate size when uncompressed: 3.8 MB
PostScript format
Approximate size when compressed: 1.5 MB
Approximate size when uncompressed: 17.9 MB