Customer Reviews

Karel++: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Object-Oriented Programming

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was looking for a way to introduce my students to object-oriented programming without scaring them out of the class in the first 10 minutes. Karel the Robot is a powerful aid to teaching because it has a very limited vocabulary, which is easily extensible and encourages students to build their own components quickly. It is a great way to introduce concepts that will be directly analogous in C++ and Java. The examples and problem sets in the book provide a rich resource of ideas. Although some of the concepts can difficult such as recursion, this is a great book for teaching structured logic to students from high school through collage level.

This book is meant for the earliest of beginning programmers. If you have any programming experience whatsoever, even with macros, the information in this book will seem extrememly remedial. Also, some of the terms used aren't even real C++ code, so you'll have to adjust your thinking just a little when you move on. Finally, the price is pretty steep for the amount of information you get. I would probably only recommend this book for someone needing a very, very, VERY gentle intro to programming.

With the use of this book and associated software, one can master the C++ or Java language in no time at all! It uses the analagy of a Robot, and the simple classes that operate it. Due to the fact that it has simple classes, time is not wasted trying to remember the many classes and their functions, and the reader immediatly begins programming the Robot. The Karel++ language has the Syntax of C++, and is Object Oriented (just like Java and C++). This is a must buy for anyone getting into programming, or just learning OOP (Object Oriented Programming)!

This book reminds me of the older LOGO programming language. You have a small "robot" that explores his world. You tell him how to move and what to do. The only reason this is good is that it helps you think of object oriented programming. (The robot is considered an object). There are also special editions of the book in case you want to specifically move to C++ or Java later. Basically, the book is a good start. If you have any programming experience - skip it. Otherwise, it will get you in the rate frame of mind to move toward OOP.

Got what I paid for. Did pay for expedite shipping and it still took over a week to get when I needed it sooner than that!

This book was the text for one of my intro to programming courses. I had no choice. You do. Run while you can.