Note: This document requires the installation of the fonts Georgia, Verdana and Andale Mono (code font) for proper viewing.
These can be found at: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group _id=34153&release_id=105355
By the way it displays just fine even without these fonts... it's quite decent HTML.
But seriously, this is a great book! Not just about java, but OO techniques in general.
I would recommend LyX and using the DocBook document class. Here's why:
DocBook was created exactly for writing technical docs, so it should have all the features you need.
SGML/XML is portable, can be processed with standard tools -- and XML seems to be the future so your stuff will remain readable for a long time (unlike using some proprietary format)
Pure text, works with CVS
HTML and PDF output works out of the box (infinite customization is
possible using DSSSL/XSLT)
However so far I haven't found the perfect tool for writing DocBook.
(Someone mentioned Morphon but it didn't work for me -- it was slow, a bit
complicated to start with, and crashed all the time (ok, it's beta or
something).)
Emacs is great but I find it too cumbersome to edit XML/SGML source.
I think the LyX approach of
WYSIWYM
is the way to do structured documents. It makes you concentrate on the
content, looks pretty and you can even configure it to use Emacs key bindings.
I use it all the time for writing docs, and it's extremely efficient:
I just type text as in Emacs, and do all the formatting with a few more
keystrokes.
LyX was originally designed to be a frontend for LaTeX, but it has
DocBook book and acticle document classes as well!
It only supports a subset of DocBook but it's evolving.
Currently these things work (and I found I don't really need more):
basic structure like title, chapters, sections, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
But seriously, this is a great book! Not just about java, but OO techniques in general.
- DocBook was created exactly for writing technical docs, so it should have all the features you need.
- SGML/XML is portable, can be processed with standard tools -- and XML seems to be the future so your stuff will remain readable for a long time (unlike using some proprietary format)
- Pure text, works with CVS
- HTML and PDF output works out of the box (infinite customization is
possible using DSSSL/XSLT)
However so far I haven't found the perfect tool for writing DocBook. (Someone mentioned Morphon but it didn't work for me -- it was slow, a bit complicated to start with, and crashed all the time (ok, it's beta or something).) Emacs is great but I find it too cumbersome to edit XML/SGML source. I think the LyX approach of WYSIWYM is the way to do structured documents. It makes you concentrate on the content, looks pretty and you can even configure it to use Emacs key bindings. I use it all the time for writing docs, and it's extremely efficient: I just type text as in Emacs, and do all the formatting with a few more keystrokes. LyX was originally designed to be a frontend for LaTeX, but it has DocBook book and acticle document classes as well! It only supports a subset of DocBook but it's evolving. Currently these things work (and I found I don't really need more):