Introduction to Programming Using Java: An Object-Oriented Approach [Paperback]

David M. Arnow (Author), Gerald Weiss (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0201311844 | ISBN-13: 978-0201311846 | Publication Date: February 1998

Using the Java language, this book introduces the beginning computer science student to the concepts of class, object, and message in the first chapter. This object-oriented approach is used throughout the text, as students learn the fundamentals of object-oriented programming along with the basics of imperative programming. Because Java is an object-oriented language that reflects the acquired wisdom of thirty years of programming language design, the book can effectively focus on programming and the process of class design. Early on, a clear, usable procedure for solving problems by developing classes is presented and then used throughout the text.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. 0201311844B04062001

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

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.

About the Author

David Arnow is a Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at Brooklyn College. Since joining Brooklyn College in 1981, his research has encompassed data structures, distributed programming, scripting languages, and parallelization of decision support software. He has published papers on CS education in SIGCSE and related settings, led two NSF-funded projects in areas of CS education, and organized or co-organized several nationally attended workshops on logic and formal methods in CS education.Gerald Weiss is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science at Brooklyn College. Since joining Brooklyn College in 1980, his research has encompassed data structures, programming language design and translation, object-oriented programming, and multimedia conferencing. He has published papers on CS education in SIGCSE and in other ACM and IEEE publications. He has also acted as an educational consultant to industry. 0201311844AB04062001

Product Details

• Paperback: 783 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201311844
• ISBN-13: 978-0201311846
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,061,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps this Better Suits the Intermediate Programmer, August 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Introduction to Programming Using Java: An Object-Oriented Approach (Paperback)

Much like the "introductory" computer science course I took in Spring 1999, the meaning of the word "introductory" seems to be unclear. We begin the book with a very comforting foray into object-oriented programming with the authors telling the students to keep up with the readings and examples in order to be well on their way to solid programmers. And, these words are kept in the initial chapters as real-life examples meet their computer program counterparts. The examples are worked nicely and are somewhat easy to follow.

Once we hit Chapter 3, though, there is a whiplash transition in terms of the material covered. Before the student knows it, he or she is coding their own Java class with instance variables, interfaces, subclasses, reference variables, boolean expressions, arrays, vectors, enumerations, iteration, lists, searching, sorting, stacks, queues, exceptions, overloading, overriding and not to mention recursion. And, this is all before the half-way mark.

If the authors wish to promote a solid introductory book to the Java language, the first thing is to eliminate recursion. This is not introductory material. Even though the authors try to simplify the topic by constantly comparing example code to a dishwashing chore after a meal, recursion is as difficult as it sounds. Also, searching, sorting, stacks, and queues best fit a book on data structures. Overall, though, I must commend the authors on the use of English when writing this book. I have read too many books where the psuedo-code makes less sense than the actual code itself. Thankfully, this is not one of them. But, if the book were trimmed down to just the basics, then it would truly fit its title and serve as an excellent welcoming to the expansive library of the Java programming language.

Rating: B-

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not an intro book for beginners, February 8, 2001

By 

"kkuzuraki" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Introduction to Programming Using Java: An Object-Oriented Approach: Java 2 Update (Paperback)

I bought this book as a required text for my csc class last semester. As a begginer in programming , Java is the first language I've learned. And to be honest, I don't think this is a very good text for new programmers who don't any prior background in programming. Most of the time I used other books to learn Java myself.

If you're a beginning programer looking for good Java books, I recommand Bruce Eckel's "Thicking in Java" and Deitel & Deitel's "Java: How to program".

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I Amno Weisser, February 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Introduction to Programming Using Java: An Object-Oriented Approach (Paperback)

I think this book is not good. This is true for the majority ofcomputer textbooks, which is really annoying given that they are somuch more expensive than the norm. I am coming to the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with the way most of these books are written. I think that as far as computer related books go Amazon should change their policy. Instead of using stars to rate books why not use tears or fists of hair. This is definitely a 4.5 tear book. I had to ring friends in search of comfort and encouragement through a number of chapters of this book. Try Real-Time-Systems by Krishna and Shin to get the full '5-tear' experience.)

The standard of english in this book is very poor. I find their sentences are loaded with ambiguity and that quite a few of the definitions and explainations are self-referencing, obscure or dubious. Chapter 4 uses sample code that has "ho", "hee" "haha" and "yuk". I found this very, very offputting given that I was struggling with the book anyway. Many of the examples are contrived and this makes them difficult to understand. In general I find that there is nothing substantial here - the material too piecemeal and that is also true of the exercises.

Someone told me that if you want to get a good book get a short one. I think that this rule/axiom holds up well.

I still have a sense of humour though, although I don't find a program that goes.....

yuk, harr, hee hee

the remotest bit funny.

BTW to help me get through this I am also using: Java How to Program, Deitel and Deitel Java in a Nutshell Java 1.1 Interactive Course, Beer

JNut is good