Prerequisites

This book assumes that you have a good basic knowledge of Java. Many of the ideas in the book are explained in terms of Java; at the same time, the book tries to explain Java in terms of the JVM. Hopefully, this will reinforce your understanding of both the Java language and the Java virtual machine.

If you're new to Java, let me recommend The Java Programming Language, by Ken Arnold and James Gosling. It's an excellent introduction to the language written in part by the originator of Java himself, James Gosling.

Many sections have exercises. The exercises don't introduce new material, but they do reinforce the existing lessons. Most of the exercises ask you to write small pieces of code. For some exercises, answers are provided at the back of the book. If you're using this book for a class and you've been assigned the exercises as a homework problem, then turning in the answers at the back of the book is cheating! Fortunately, real JVM programmers are trustworthy.