Working as an effective professional Java developer requires you to know Java APIs, tools, and techniques to solve a wide variety of Java problems. Building upon Ivor Horton's Beginning Java 2, this resource shows you how to use the core features of the latest JDK as well as powerful open source tools such as Ant, JUnit, and Hibernate. It will arm you with a well-rounded understanding of the professional Java development landscape. The expert author team begins by uncovering the sophisticated Java language features, the methodology for developing solutions, and steps for exploiting patterns. They then provide you with a collection of real-world examples that will become an essential part of your developer's toolkit. With this approach, you'll gain the skills to build advanced solutions by utilizing the more complex and nuanced parts of Java JDK 6.