There are plenty of books on Java out there but Java Secrets is one of a kind. Java Secrets picks up where all the others leave off, daring to tread into parts of Java that Sun Microsystems hasn't documented, that aren't generally accessible within a Web browser, and that haven't appeared in other Java books.

If you're content creating nifty applets to jazz up Web pages, you probably don't need Java Secrets. But if you want to write serious, stand-alone Java applications and Web applets that do useful things like allow live chats and interface with Usenet newsgroups, you need the information that author and Java expert Elliote Rusty Harold reveals in this comprehensive, in-depth guide.

Plus, on the bonus CD-ROM accompanying Java Secrets, you get full versions of WingDis 2.0.3 (the Java decompiler) and JDK 1.1 as well as many essential shareware and freeware programs for Java power-programmers.