front matter
Well-grounded? You mean, “well-rounded”? Two years of pandemic would do that without the need for a book.
Merriam-Webster defines well-grounded as “having a firm foundation.” I like that. We want to have a firm foundation in Java—a practical knowledge of what we need to know to call ourselves Java experts. This book picks up where Effective Java stops.
This is the second edition of a great book. The first taught us all that we needed to know for Java 7. That seems like eons ago. Java 7 belonged to another age, when features were added to the language at best every three years. Back then, it was easy to keep versions apart. Java 5? Generics and enums. Java 7? try-with-resource. Java 8? Streams and lambdas. Those comfortable easy days ended when Oracle introduced the six-month cycle. Records—were those Java 14, 15, or 17? Enhanced Switch? Was that already in Java 11?
The fast release cycle is great for programmers who work for adventurous companies. Every six months, they get new toys to play with. They might even get to try out previews of what will come next. The myriad of new features is wonderful for programmers, but not so nice for authors. Before the ink has dried, a new feature release makes a bunch of things obsolete.