Introduction to Programming Using Java offers an object-oriented approach, introducing the concepts of object, class, and message as early as the first chapter. This approach is used throughout the text as students learn the fundamentals of object-oriented programming along with the basics of imperative programming. The authors place a strong emphasis on the software development process, presenting a clear and usable procedure for solving problems by developing classes.
Java's support for GUI and network programming makes a great setting for diverse programming examples: a calculator, a strategy game, reading the Dow Jones from Yahoo!, a Web surveyor application, scheduling songs for a rock-and-roll radio station, as well as traditional payroll and student GPA computations. Working with these and other examples, students learn to think like a programmer, analyze problems, devise solutions, design classes, and write code.
Features
Uses the necessary features of Java 1.1 while teaching CS1 concepts. Uses object-oriented concepts from the very beginning--classes, objects, and messages are all introduced in Chapter 1--and develops them throughout. Applies a consistent class design procedure, usable by beginners. Contains graphic user interface (GUI) supplements in each chapter. Provides an early introduction to testing, covering test drivers, debugging, and test case selection. Includes a chapter with three robust applications--a LOGO turtle, a Web surveyor, and Mancala (a strategy game)--which use the text's class design procedure and allow the students to tie the material together.