前言

My primary goal in writing this book was to explain the Java Virtual Machine, and the software technologies upon which it is based, to Java programmers. Although the Java Virtual Machine incorporates technologies that had been tried and proven in other programming languages, prior to Java many of these technologies had not yet entered into common use. As a consequence, many programmers will be encountering these technologies for the first time as they begin to program in Java. Garbage collection, multi-threading, exception handling, dynamic extension--even the use of a virtual machine itself--may be new to many programmers. The aim of this book is to help programmers understand how all these things work, and in the process, to help them become more adept with the Java programming language.

Another goal I had in mind as I wrote this book was to experiment a bit with the changing nature of text. Web pages have three interesting characteristics that differentiate them from paper-based text: theyíre dynamic (they can evolve over time), theyíre interactive (especially if you embed Java applets in them), and theyíre interconnected (you can easily navigate from one to another). Besides the traditional text and figures, this book includes several Java applets (in a mini-website on the CD-ROM) that serve as "interactive illustrations" of the concepts presented in the text. In addition, I maintain a website on the internet that serves as a launching point for readers to find more (and more current) information on the topics covered in the book. This book is composed of all of these components: text, figures, interactive illustrations, and constantly evolving links to further reading.

     

我写这本书的主要目的是把Java虚拟机和基于它的软件技术给Java程序员讲解明白。Java虚拟机不但结合了其他语言的已经实现的优点，而且有许多新的特性加入。因此，开始用Java编程的程序员将会遇到使用这些技术。对于大部分程序员来说垃圾回收、多线程、异常捕获、多态和虚拟机都是之前没有遇到过的。这本书的目的就是帮助程序员认识、理解它们，同时让他们更善于Java编程。

写本书另外一个目的是锻炼把自然语言转换成文本文字的能力。和纸比较起来网页有3个有趣的特性：动态(它们可以随时改变)、交互(特别是嵌入了Applet)和相互联系的。除了普通文字和数字外，还包含了许多Java Applets来加深文字理论的理解。另外，读者可以通过网站了解更多更新的有关这本书的信息。这本书用文字、数字、插图和固定最新动态的连接表现。