Object-Oriented Programming in Java : A Graphical Approach

This book has a strong focus on object-oriented design and gives readers a realistic experience of writing programs that are systems of cooperating objects. Programming fundamentals are learned through visually appealing graphics applications in all examples and exercises. Introduction of object-oriented concepts from the beginning including objects, classes, polymorphism, inheritance, and interfaces. It fully embraces Java 5.0 topics including the standard scanner class and makes extensive use of graphical user-interfaces and real graphics applications. This book is appropriate for beginning programmers who want to learn to program with Java as well as experienced programmers who want to add Java to their skill-set.

This principle-driven introduction to programming with Java and its standard Swing graphics library by world-renowned computer science professor Andy van Dam and professor Kate Sanders emphasizes object-oriented design and programming. It covers all important object-oriented programming mechanisms at the beginning of the book-from encapsulation through inheritance, interfaces, and polymorphism. It uses numerous executable examples to teach modularization and other good programming habits that will stay with students for a lifetime. Most of the programming examples and exercises take advantage of the visual appeal of interactive graphics to provide essential motivation for first-time programmers.

With Object-Oriented Programming in Java: A Graphical Approach, students will:

Use an approach to learning object-oriented design and programming that has been tested for a decade and used successfully at multiple universities.

Experience reading and writing non-trivial, interactive programs that are systems of cooperating objects.

Capitalize on the powerful features of Java 5.0 including Swing class, generics, and static imports.

Get a good introduction to fundamental data structures (stacks, queues, linked lists and trees) and a complete chapter on design patterns.

"Strong Object-Oriented Design skills in combination with experience working on non-trivial projects are a requirement for succeeding in today s software industry. Students who follow the approach of this book are bound to be successful later in their software careers; you need only see the number of former Andy van Dam students at current industry powerhouses to believe it!" -Matt Chotin, Sr. Software Engineer, Macromedia and former student of Andy van Dam

"Graphics are a useful motivator because students enjoy graphics far more than text or arithmetic examples, and graphics are inherently object-oriented." -Karl R. Wurst, Worcester State College

"Andy van Dam and Kate Sanders do a great job of hitting Objects first-teaching OO early and letting the procedural stuff come along naturally. I have seen a number of texts that claim they do this, but I haven't seen anyone who does it like these authors do."-Ben Shaffer, University of Northern Iowa