efficient programming

I like to know efficient programming in java,please suggest how I test my programming skill ?please suggest some books also to improve

If you haven't already, you might take a look at Effective Java by Joshua Bloch
[ November 15, 2008: Message edited by: Brian Lang ]

We have our our course, the Cattle Drive. The problems are free - anyone can give them a go. If you want nit-picking, there is a small fee that goes to support this site.

You can also look at sites like Project Euler. It has over 200 little math exercises. All COULD be done by hand, but would be difficult. The idea is to write code in any language you want to solve them. I'm working through it, and it's great fun.

What I'm basically saying is that the best way to improve your skills is to practice.

Google for javabat. Several ranch members like that site; you can try little algorithms and see whether they work. They are usually more difficult than they appear at first sight!