Java Puzzlers: Traps, Pitfalls, and Corner Cases

Based on Bloch and Gafter's standing room only Java Puzzlers talk at JavaOne,the heart of the book comprises over 100 Java programming language puzzlers:brainteasers that challenge the intellect while alerting programmers to the traps,pitfalls, and corner cases that lurk in the nether regions of the Java platform.All of the puzzles from the authors' popular JavaOne presentations areincluded, as are many puzzles never before seen in public. There are two majortypes of puzzles in the book. Most of the puzzles take the form of shortprograms that appear to do something but actually do something else. Readerswill be encouraged to predict the behavior of the program before running it.After running the program, readers will be encouraged to figure out why itbehaved as it did before consulting the solution. In a second type of puzzle, thereader will be asked to write a short program that performs some specific task.Most of the solutions will contain a moral, a rule the reader can follow toavoid the problematic behavior demonstrated in the puzzle. The puzzles aregrouped into chapters based on the primary platform features they exercise andto maximize readability, fun, and pedagogical effectiveness.