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Object-oriented programming (OOP) now is in wide use for many years and has brought us a new way to build programs. This way is called Visual Programming and is like building large objects out of a collection of small Lego blocks. The blocks are called Components. ActiveX with Visual Basic for example is MicroSofts component model for Windows95 and NT. Java Beans is the component model from Sun Microsystems for the Java (Java 1.1) language. A Java Bean is a component developed in the Java language environment. A button in a window of a user interface is a simple example for a component, an animation would be an example which is much more complex. In general a component has an optical appearance and some attributs like a color and a label. There can be some events which belong to the component and some methods which could be used to communicate with it. Components can be hooked up to each other. An event like buttonPressed of a button component for example can be used to invoke a method like startAnimation of an animation component. The hooking up is done in a graphical environment. The combination of the two components automatically is translated into a single code. The book of Robert Englander, a member of the development staff at Reuters, where he builds software using C++ and Java, is a book about building components in Java. It is not a book about using components. So reading it is profitable mainly for experienced Java programmers. For them a complete development example, showing all aspects of designing and building Beans will be useful. Readers who just started Java programming often will have difficulties to follow this deep look into the matter. The first chapters on the other side give a competent overview of the component model and are useful for novices too. The description of the Java Bean Box (in chapter 7) gives an idea how to work with component. I can recommend this book for Java programmers who want to learn about the Java component model and for experienced Java Programmers who want to develop Java Beans.