Product Description

This title is now available in a new edition, available August 2008. ISBN 9780137005628

The book has a very clear identity.

It takes a truly objects first approach to teaching problem solving using Java. These are complicated concepts so the book uses the development environment BlueJ to help the student’s understanding. BlueJ has a strong emphasis on visualization and interaction techniques, and allows the students to manipulate objects and call methods as a first exercise. BlueJ is free and freely available, and has been developed specifically for teaching.

The book is loaded with projects so that the student can really get a grip on actually solving problems; and it takes a “spiral approach”, introducing a topic in a simple context early on, then revisiting it later in the book to deepen understanding. It also comes with a CD containing JDK, BlueJ, a BlueJ tutorial and code for all the projects. The website contains style guide for all examples, PowerPoints for lecturers and also a Solutions Manual. 

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1988 in Books
• Published on: 2006-04-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 520 pages

Synopsis
The book has a very clear identity. It takes a truly objects first approach to teaching problem solving using Java. These are complicated concepts so the book uses the development environment BlueJ to help the student's understanding. BlueJ has a strong emphasis on visualization and interaction techniques, and allows the students to manipulate objects and call methods as a first exercise. BlueJ is free and freely available, and has been developed specifically for teaching. The book is loaded with projects so that the student can really get a grip on actually solving problems; and it takes a spiral approach , introducing a topic in a simple context early on, then revisiting it later in the book to deepen understanding. It also comes with a CD containing JDK, BlueJ, a BlueJ tutorial and code for all the projects. The website contains style guide for all examples, PowerPoints for lecturers and also a Solutions Manual.

From the Back Cover

Objects First with Java:
A Practical Introduction Using BlueJ

Third Edition

David J. Barnes
Michael Kölling

The BlueJ revolution goes on! The third edition of Objects First with Java has been fully updated for Java 5.0, and features a new version of BlueJ providing even stronger support for learning Java syntax and semantics.

Hallmark features

• An ‘Objects First’ approach encourages students to exploit the power of OOP from the beginning
• A project-driven approach applies a problem-solving method to real applications.
• A CD-ROM containing the JDK and versions of BlueJ for a variety of operating systems
• A Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/barnes includes a style guide for all program examples, PowerPoint slides and other resources for both students and instructors.
• Additional resources can be found on the BlueJ website: www.bluej.org/objects-first/

New to the third edition

• Fully compliant with Java 5.0 features including generics
• A revised treatment of autobox and enumerators
• Expanded coverage of graphics and GUI programming
• A new version of the BlueJ environment, featuring:
  o Full support for Java 5.0
  o An all-new interface ‘look and feel’
  o A new ‘Code Pad’ feature, allowing immediate execution and evaluation of Java code.

About the Authors

David Barnes has 25 years experience in teaching programming. He and Michael Kölling both teach introductory Java courses at the Universityof Kent, Canterbury. Michael Kölling was a key member of the team that developed BlueJ at MonashUniversityin Australia.

 

[Copy to appear on inside front cover of 3rd edition]

From reviews of the original edition

“The book represents a valuable, new approach to introductory programming; it is still my best choice as textbook for the introductory programming course.”
—Michael Caspersen, University of Aarhus, Denmark

“This is the most innovative approach to teaching an Introduction to Programming course I have seen so far.”
—Clemens Martin, University of Ontario

“I would like to thank the authors for their good job on this book, and the wonderful BlueJ, the best programming environment for students learning Java.”
—Ying Zhou, Rhode Island College

 

The first true ‘objects first’ introductory text; the best introduction to objects and OO programming concepts I have ever seen.”

—Michael Goldweber, XavierUniversity

 

“The more I read Barnes and Kölling’s book, the more impressed I am with it. It is a pedagogical masterpiece.”

—Ian Bridgewood, CopenhagenUniversityCollegeof Engineering

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Customer Reviews

Great book, really good way of teaching Java
This book is a really good 'hands on' way of teaching the Java programming language. Whilst other texts may start introducing concepts they often do so in a very bland fashion with chunks of paragraphs often tailored to the academic study of Java. This book however introduces and teaches the reader how to program in java, explaining the important concepts clearly and concisely and offers numerous practical exercises.

Not for the self taught
this is an excelent book, but definately NOT FOR THOSE TEACHING THEMSELVES.

The problem is that it is used in college courses, so there are no answers to the exercises. This means that if you are at home trying to learn Object Oriented Programming, and you have no tutor to ask, you don't know if you've got it right. And if you come across an exercise (as I have with 4.26) where you can see an answer but don't know how to code it, you're stuffed.

So, yes buy this book if you're part of an organised (college) course, but steer clear if you're on your own trying to teach yourself.

Edit - post finishibg the book:
There is a mailing list (objects-first-discussion@bluej.org) but don't ask directly for answers to the exercises, but phrase your questions to show what bits you understand but which bits you need hints with.

The answer to the exercise I mention has "ugly" syntax - you can have () at other places apart from right at the end of a dotted list.

But one last thing, this book does give you a real feel for what objects are and what you can do with/to them, as such it is invaluable to OOP.

Best book for OOP
This is probably THE best book there is for Object Orientated Programming (OOP).
The book explains in full detail with examples, how to execute objects, methods and classes.
This book turned me from a failed OOP student to THE best OOP programmer out of all the students out of the whole year. Considering university lectures do not fully teach you everything there is you need to know about OOP, this book will help fill in the gaps.