Java: Just in Time

Updated and revised September 2018.

At last -- a first programming in Java course that is truly aimed at students who have not programmed before! (It has an entry point for those who have.) * Using neither the confusing `objects first' approach, nor the confidence destroying `objects late' ordering, students are instead taken gently from their natural `task oriented' view of problem solving, through the basics of programming and then soon onto objects. * Every programming and Java concept is introduced, Just in Time, in the context of one of more than a hundred program examples, so motivation is never lacking. Even when objects are introduced, readers immediately see their benefit, and thus happily augment their `task oriented' view with the `object oriented' one. * Programming skill, being at least 51% confidence, is built in manageable layers by undertaking over one hundred pieces of coursework. * Other learning enhancing aspects include coffee time questions, end of chapter collected concepts, no use of non-standard library code, and independence of any confidence-entrapping learning environment. John Latham has been teaching first programming since 1982 using various languages and styles, and this course has been running since 2004 at The University of Manchester, UK.