Understanding Java

Books on Java abound. What makes this book different is that it not only provides a thorough introduction to the Java programming language, but it also imparts an understanding of the way things are in Java.

The overall aims of the book are to:

+ introduce the main aspects of programming

+ explain the constructs available in the Java programming language

+ create an appropriate foundation for the construction of large programs

Barry Cornelius has taught courses in Java at the University of Durham since 1996. This book is based on material taught by the author to students that are new to programming. His unique and exciting approach has successfully introduced many students to the principles of programming and at the same time it has given them an understanding of the Java programming language.

Key features

+ teaches interface declarations at the same time as class declarations.

+ suggests that each class should have methods called equals, hashCode, compareTo (if appropriate), toString and a constructor for cloning.

+ demonstrates how to provide a Java program with user interfaces involving components such as buttons, textfields, dialog boxes and menus (using the Swing API).

+ uses the Collections API in preference to teaching the student to implement the code for the classic data structures.

+ uses the WWW pages that document the Core APIs.

+ Each chapter of the book ends with some useful tips for programming and debugging, and a section entitled `curios, controversies and cover-ups'.

+ As well as containing the code of all the examples that appear in the book, the book's website at www.booksites.net/cornelius contains the code of a WWW browser written in Java and a set of suggested solutions to some of the exercises.