Great Ideas in Computer Science with Java (Paperback)

~ Alan W. Biermann (Author), Dietolf Ramm (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book presents the "great ideas" of computer science, condensing a large amount of complex material into a manageable, accessible form; it does so using the Java programming language. The book is based on the problem-oriented approach that has been so successful in traditional quantitative sciences. For example, the reader learns about database systems by coding one in Java, about system architecture by reading and writing programs in assembly language, about compilation by hand-compiling Java statements into assembly language, and about noncomputability by studying a proof of noncomputability and learning to classify problems as either computable or noncomputable. The book covers an unusually broad range of material at a surprisingly deep level. It also includes chapters on networking and security. Even the reader who pursues computer science no further will acquire an understanding of the conceptual structure of computing and information technology that every well-informed citizen should have.

About the Author

Alan W. Biermann is Professor of Computer Science at Duke University. He is also the author of the first two editions of Great Ideas in Computer Science (MIT Press, 1990, 1997).

Dietolf Ramm Associate Professor of the Practice of Computer Science at Duke University. He is also Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 563 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1st edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262024977
• ISBN-13: 978-0262024976
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #495,165 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Favorite introduction to Java and modern computer science, May 20, 2002

By A Customer

After spending the last couple of years buying and reading over a dozen different books on contemporary software technology, I've encountered my favorite book of the bunch in the title reviewed here.

"GIICS with Java" has struck the ideal balance for my purpose -- to get an intelligent hands-on overview of contemporary computer science. Although it's intended primarily as an introductory textbook for university students, I think it makes an enjoyable and substantive tutorial for any person working in the software and information technology industries, even product marketing types such as myself. Heck, if you believe the authors, the book makes valuable reading for any citizen of the modern world (e.g. the world being shaped by the Internet).

Unlike any other titles I've read in this domain, "GIICS with Java" gives a grand humanistic overview of modern information technology while helping the reader to understand these ideas with hands-on programming projects(in the Java language). Most other books I've read have either been overly general because they avoid asking the reader to learn to understand computer science in its native tongue (e.g. in a modern programming language), or they've been overly detailed, losing any reader who is not trying to pass some kind of software engineering certification exam.

The chapters are well-written, the programming examples are conceptually interesting and carefully constructed to help the reader/budding-programmer synthesize concepts, and the physical book is tastefully designed and produced.

To get the most out of this book, you need to pair it up with the freely downloadable Java SDK and a Java-enabled Web Browser.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stumbling on Object-Oriented Technology, October 11, 2003

By	Dennis E. Hamilton "orcmid" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The precursors to this book focused on providing a gentle introduction for anyone wanting to explore this important territory. The language used was Turbo Pascal. Much of the material was oriented to the manipulation of text, even as part of interactive operations, and object methodologies were not featured.

Moving to Java, today's highly-available and appealing language, this edition is "written for people who find themselves on the outside of a high-technology world and who want to find a way in." Times have changed.

The book focuses on hands-on creation of software that the reader can build, use and explore, experiencing the great ideas through their application. Savoring that approach, I found little help in getting started. For example, the early chapter on HTML seems out of place and disconnected from the remainder of the book. Diving from there into Java is too abrupt. This might work as a course text with a companion laboratory, but I was looking for something that would work away from the classroom for anyone with the interest and curiosity. I ended up going to other materials and tutorials to get myself started.

As I worked more carefully, I was surprised how much one must deal with Java's idiosyncratic approach to Object-Oriented Technology (OOT) so early. There seems to be no way to accomplish simple things with Java without contending with the OOT. Here the neophyte may never know, in a clear way, where and when using the OOT is actually following some principle of Object-Oriented Design and Programming. This shows up in the non-object-oriented illustrations with main(), using static libraries like java.lang.Math, and even initial use of applets. Many uses of Java's OOT are as idioms for non-object-oriented tasks, such as definition of functions and creation of subroutines as part of hierarchically decomposing a task. I have enough computer experience to notice. I wonder about beginners becoming lost trying to separate essentials from the many incidentals that must be dealt with.

In terms of key ideas around graphical user interfaces, for example, it is never explained what we are doing when we create an interactive display element by extending a graphical-component class. Key ideas of event loops and event handlers are applied (ActionListener implementations are used starting on p.86), but not explained or motivated anywhere that I could find. It is as if the results arise by magic. I am not sure what the lesson is.

Having said all of that, I strongly favor the hands-on, experience-it and demonstrate-it-yourself approach. There is much value here. Yet teasing the great ideas out of the constraints of Java's particular object technology seems needlessly difficult.

I have since extended my mastery of Java and found it a valuable instrument for many tasks, including some illustration of Object-Oriented principles. For the worthy ambitions of this book, I found the tool to be in the way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I just don't like this book..., July 23, 2007

By	T. DelVecchio (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It jumps from HTML to Java applets without even explaining what Java is, or anything about high-level languages. Then it skips to a chapter on mathematics, then databases... choosing strong passwords, buying computers... what is the author getting at? The only chapter I like is Chapter 16 - Artificial Intelligence. And don't plan on learning Java from this, they just throw a few code snippets at you with no info on the language or reference material of any kind.

This is a recommended text for Harvard CS1 but so far I haven't really used it once. Now I know why they gave an open-book exam...