Java, whether you love it, or hate it, it's here to stay. Like everyone's favorite language C, Java has had a major impact on the computing scene. When the history of computers is written, its name will be up there with the stars.

If you were to choose just one language to learn today, it should be Java. It's being pushed aggressively by Sun and is growing by leaps and bounds. There are lots of Java programmers out there and more join the party every day.

Java started out as a bit of an accident. A team under Bill Joy was working at Sun on a new programming language for embedded applications. Java was originally expected to work in toasters and fridges, not on modern computers! The initial prognosis for Java was not good and it was only the rise of the Internet which saved Java from oblivion. Since then, neither the Net nor Sun nor Java has looked back and all have grown from strength to strength.

In this book, we start off assuming that you know no programming language at all. We've focussed on the place where Java is most prevalent, the server. We're going to be teaching you Java one concept at a time and taking things real slow and easy. We believe that the best way to learn is to try and absorb just one concept at a time. We're here to help you learn, not to overwhelm you.

We like the concept of freedom, especially when it comes to information. We've occasionally picked up ideas for our examples from programs we've found online or in the product documentation. We've got information from so many sources, we can't credit them all, but we are grateful to them. In turn, we'd like you to use the code you'll find within in any way you wish.

Happy Learning!!!!

Several key people are helpful in making this book become a reality and must be acknowledged for their efforts - without them, this book would not exist.

Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Managing Trustee of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation.

Manish Jain, BPB, for working closely with us and publishing the book.

Altaf Hemani and Kishore Rohra for the cover design.

Arsalan Zaidi for editing and proof reading the book.

Pradeep Mukhi and Shivanand Shetty for their motivation and support on this book.

Finally, we are grateful to our families and friends for their love, support and encouragement while the book was being written.