Product Description

Now available in a new edition, published August 2008. ISBN 9780137005628.

For introductory courses in Java/Introduction to Programming and Object-Oriented Programming.

Its close integration with the BlueJ development environment allows this book to focus on key aspects of object-oriented software development from day one. BlueJ's clear visualization of classes and objects means that students can immediately appreciate the differences between them, and gain a much better understanding of the nature of an object than they would from simply reading source code. Unlike traditional textbooks, the chapters are not ordered by language features but by software development concepts. Language features are introduced as a response to the problems to be solved. A large number of different, interesting projects are used to provide variety and avoid the monotony of a running problem. The authors avoid the dangers of trying to teach all there is to know about each topic by using a spiral approach - introducing topics in a simple context early on and then revisiting later to deepen understanding. Throughout, the emphasis is on developing a practical approach to programming, with students encouraged to add code to existing programs rather than working with an intimidating sheet of blank paper.

Supplements:

Author's Companion Website: http://www.bluej.org/objects-first/ Includes Java Resource Links, Book Projects, Code Style Guide,  Student Activities and more!

Instructor-only Resources (Registration required):

• Power Point lecture slides
• Solutions to exercises

Click on the "Resources" Tab above to view these downloadable files

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21512 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

From the Back Cover
Objects First with Java ; A Practical Introduction using BlueJ

Learn Java and BlueJ straight from the source!

Welcome to the first introductory programming textbook that completely integrates BlueJ with the teaching of object-oriented principles using Java.

BlueJ is a Java development environment that runs on top of the Sun Microsystems Java Development Kit making use of the standard compiler and virtual machine. It has been specifically designed for the introductory teaching of object-oriented programming, allowing the student to create objects of any class and interact with their methods. This truly objects first approach within the customised BlueJ environment is expected to revolutionise the way programming is taught. For the first time, the traditionally difficult concepts of objects and classes are bought alive in an easily manipulable visual form.

Key features

• Objects first approach

BlueJ supports teaching tools that are not available in other environments, including the visualisation of class structure. This means that the student can interact with objects directly, even before looking at the first line of Java syntax!

• Project driven approach to problem solving

Each chapter contains problems which are analyzed before the language constructs are introduced that can solve them. What is more, the book is structured along the lines of fundamental development tasks, giving clear coverage of the principles of object-oriented programming

• Spiral approach

Challenging topics are introduced early, and then revisited later in the book in a different context in order to deepen understanding

• Thorough treatment of object-oriented principles

Pointers are used within each chapter to refer the student to further reading, supplementary sources, and language references

• Supplements

The book is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing the JDK and BlueJ for various operating systems. A companion website contains the style guide for all examples used in the book, as well as power point slides for instructors.

Michael Kölling is one of the developers of the BlueJ software, and is currently based at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense. David J. Barnes is at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and is the author of Object-Oriented Programming with Java, also published by Prentice Hall.

About the Author

David Barnes is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Kent, in Canterbury, England. He has been teaching introductory programming for over 25 years, and has practical experience of a wide range of programming languages. He has been teaching object-oriented programming in Java for over 10 years. David is passionate about the excitement that is inherent in computer science and is actively involved in promoting it as a subject area to high-school children. In addition to computing education, his main research is in the area of software engineering.

Michael Kölling is a Senior Lecturer at the Computing Laboratory, University of Kent, in Canterbury, England. He holds a PhD in computer science from Sydney University, and has worked in Australia, Denmark and the UK. Michael’s research interests are in the areas of object-oriented systems, programming languages, software tools, computing education. He has published numerous papers on object-orientation and computing education topics. Michael is one of the developers of BlueJ and, more recently, the Greenfoot platform.

Customer Reviews

The best book on both java and on object oriented programming!
This is a great book, I would give it 6 stars if I was allowed to. It seems to have 2 things which all other books lack: it teaches from 'the beginning' and it is packed with useful exercises. The author expains the concepts of object oriented programming (in java but the concepts are useful for many other languages!) very well, he doesn't introduce inheritance until half way through the book and by the time he does, you are really ready for it due to the excellent teaching structure of the book. The author seems to have a great way of making you do exercises and getting you to ask yourself questions like 'wouldn't it be handy if there was something like subclassing?', and then surprise surprise!, the next section is on subclassing!

As I said, many other books seem to introduce loads of theory without giving yu any practice. This book gets you practicing and then thinking of the theory youself.

This book works for a range of people. It is great for beginners (although I highly recommend that you do every exercise), but I am sure that many experienced programmers would find it very useful too, at least for brushing up on certain concepts....

The Beginners Holy Grail to learning Java 5 Stars ++
Had my first taste of BlueJ as a college student at Bell College Hamilton, my Java skills have increased tremendously mainly due to the principles and concepts learned from BlueJ.

This book stands miles above all Beginner java book's on the market today. The book comes with its own IDE "BlueJ". The book focuses early on Classes, Objects and clearly explains the concepts with little regard to code. The book then invites the reader to open up example projects with the BlueJ IDE and gets the user to create objects from the classes then examine the methods, again paying little attention to coding (There is plenty of coding and exercises in this book, but kept to minimum at this stage as it’s vital to understand the concepts related with classes and objects and methods). This then enables the user to better visualize abstract concepts and object behavior.

The book uses an iterative approach and user finds that principles taught in the book are used throughout the book. The book teaches you to code practical programs such as a Database to contain CD and Video objects; most importantly it stimulates your mind and imagination. This enables the user to find other ways to apply the concepts to other problems. The book gets you to into the habit of thinking of items as objects. Plain and simple BlueJ gives you the right amount of Java knowledge without going into unnecessary details and allows the user to see the big picture and enable them to successfully start understanding more advanced Java material.

When I got to university the Students who used BlueJ at college were miles ahead in understanding Java language than those who had not. Most students who did not use BlueJ before university had a habit of writing procedural style programs with the Java
language.

Recommended !

A fascinating and clever approach to teaching Java
This book is intended to be a course text book for an introductory course in Java and Object Oriented Programming. The authors have made a conscious decision to cover the material in a different order to almost all other books on the subject. You won't find an initial chapter on classpaths, compilation and the main method, there's no pseudo-procedural "hello, world" example. The book leaps straight in to creating objects from classes, examining values and calling methods.

There is a trick to all this, of course. The book is based on a kind of Java development environment optimised for teaching called "BlueJ". BlueJ is a free download, and a copy is included on a CD with the book, along with all the source code examples. I've had a play with BlueJ, and it certainly makes important things like the distinction between a class and an object, and the inheritance structure of the code, much clearer than traditional IDEs.

If you are planning to teach a course on Java or OO, you should certainly take a look at this book. Even if you don't run the course exactly as presented, the approach is fascinating. If you are trying to pick up these tricky ideas on your own, this book might also be very useful. Even if none of those cases apply, the BlueJ software is still a really neat tool for prototyping.