"Every programming language has its quirks. This lively book reveals oddities of the Java programming language through entertaining and thought-provoking programming puzzles." --Guy Steele, Sun Fellow and coauthor of The Java(t) Language Specification "I laughed, I cried, I threw up (my hands in admiration)." --Tim Peierls, president, Prior Artisans LLC, and member of the JSR 166 Expert Group How well do you really know Java? Are you a code sleuth? Have you ever spent days chasing a bug caused by a trap or pitfall in Java or its libraries? Do you like brainteasers? Then this is the book for you! In the tradition of Effective Java(t), Bloch and Gafter dive deep into the subtleties of the Java programming language and its core libraries. Illustrated with visually stunning optical illusions, Java(t) Puzzlers features 95 diabolical puzzles that educate and entertain. Anyone with a working knowledge of Java will understand the puzzles, but even the most seasoned veteran will find them challenging. Most of the puzzles take the form of a short program whose behavior isn't what it seems. Can you figure out what it does? Puzzles are grouped loosely according to the features they use, and detailed solutions follow each puzzle. The solutions go well beyond a simple explanation of the program's behavior--they show you how to avoid the underlying traps and pitfalls for good. A handy catalog of traps and pitfalls at the back of the book provides a concise taxonomy for future reference. Solve these puzzles and you'll never again fall prey to the counterintuitive or obscure behaviors that can fool even the most experienced programmers.

JOSHUA BLOCH是Google的首席工程师，以及获得过Jolt最畅销奖的《高效Java编程语言指南（Effective Java Programming Language Guide）》（Addson-Wesley，2001）一书的作者。他之前是Sun Microsystems的杰出工程师和Transarc的资深系统设计师。Josh领导了大量的Java平台特性的设计与实现工作，包括JDK 5.0中的语言增强和获奖的Java集合框架。他拥有卡耐基.梅隆大学计算机科学的博士学位。 NEAL GAFTER是Google的软件工程师和Java的传道者。他之前是Sun Microsystems的资深员工工程师，在那里他领导了Java编译器的开发工作，并且通过5.0版实现了1.4版中的Java语言特性。Neal曾经是C++标准委员会的成员，他在Sun Microsystems、Microtec Research和Texas Instruments时领导了C和C++编译器的开发工作。他拥有罗彻斯特大学计算机科学的博士学位。