Slashdot Mirror
Seeking a Solid Java Textbook?
StudMuffin asks: "I am teaching a Master's level Introductory Java Programming class, at the University of Michigan in January, and am on the hunt for a solid Java textbook. This class is aimed at grad students (who obviously have a bachelors degree, so they are assumed to be able to think on their own) with no programming experience. Specifically, I would like to ground them in good Object Oriented principles, solid program design techniques, and finally in the actual syntax of Java. I would rather think of this as a 'How to program well' class that happens to use Java as the language over a 'Java class' that happens to cover programming. I would like to stay away from the applet heavy books that I tend to find, focusing instead on the topics above. Any ideas?"
and while I cannot single out a textbook for you, I urge you to spend 3 classes on UML. Understanding an object and it's methods really helped me, the language was secondary to that; hell, I just used the API ;).
I always wished I would come across an instructor who took "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (abelson, Sussman & Sussman [see here SICP]) and mappend the fundamental theories presented therein to whatever language was currently invogue during that class/age.
Mere learning of language, for the fit of mind, is a simplicity - you're talking maybe 4 months at the outside to learn the syntax of $x language, thru and thru. However, with the ideas presented in SICP, you can accomplish nearly any theoretical CS task. The implementation (though fun) is the easy part.
I might recommend your assigning sections apropos to your course from the book as homework; in class, project the particular Java syntax upon those principals presented in the text.
A most rewarding class would result, I think!
It all depends on what exactly you are teaching. You could be teaching an introduction to programming, or data structures and algorithms, or Object-Oriented programming, or network computing, or... Java would probably be suitable for either of the items above, and there are textbooks covering each of them.
If you are safely assuming that your students already know how to program (for example in C) and know about data structures, then Java becomes an ideal choice to introduce object-oriented programming. If this is what you want to do, then "Object Oriented Software Development Using Java" by Xiaoping Jia is a very good bet. It introduces OO with UML, talks about patterns, and uses them to discuss the collections framework and Swing. Search for "Jia" on Amazon.com to learn more...
"In our tactical decisions, we are operating contrary to our strategic interest."
A short answer to your request would be to get Learn to Program with Java by John Smiley to teach the Java language and program construction in the easiest manner ever written. The method taught is very accessible for those who've never written a line of code. Have your students follow the instructions in Don't Fear The OOP! for fun and insight. Then, make the brilliant Teach Yourself Object Oriented Programming in 21 Days by Anthony Sintes the real goal of your course. The first 7 days covers OOP as you won't find in other books, then the following 7 days covers how to design/structure/test applications in OOP. The last 7 days is a fun project building an application using the OOP principles already taught. These two books should cover what your students need. If by chance you run out of time and they don't finish the OOP book, you should still be able to get them through the first 7 days of the material and still finish the Smiley book (which is necessary for the fundamentals). Your students can then continue to finish the Sintes book if they find Java/OOP is something they wish to pursue further.
For students who require more instruction in programming fundamentals, you'll have to be more considerate. More consideration requires a longer answer to your request. You know that OOP is the most important aspect of learning this discipline, but you're stuck with a chicken and egg situation. How can one learn how to build solutions (algorithms/applications) to problems without knowing how to express those ideas first in a language's syntax and semantics? As you've said, your students are assumed to have no programming experience. Well, as a child, before you learned how to speak your mind, you first had to learn HOW to say things.
I would first recommend giving your students a crash course in syntax and semantics. Don't worry if they don't know what to DO with the syntax yet. They first need to become familiar with the alphabet and sentence structures of the language before they can learn how to express their ideas in that language. I'm going to diverge from the rest of the slashdot crowd here by recommending that you use a CBT (Computer Based Training) for this step. It's the quickest way to your goal (about 8-20 hours of computer time) and the interactivity will keep their attention even though the material is very dry (in contrast to the Smiley book). They can run the CBT over and over again until the message of language's rules sink in. This will be most effective with your guidance in filling in the missing information (CBT text is purposely kept terse in order to maximize retention and in order not to lose the user's attention). Use CBTs as homework, or in conjunction with other homework. There are various worthwhile CBTs out there, Smartforce/Smartcertify's or Netg's first module on Java should suffice. Or, Joe Grip's whole set of Java instruction (about 10 hours of computer time, though they claim 5).
If your students really are beginners, I'd even encourage getting a CBT on not just syntax, but on basic programming concepts (iteration, selection, sequence, algorithms...etc). Smartforce/Smartcertify has something on that called Programming Fundamentals or you can get a copy of COMPTONS PROGRAMMING MADE EASY (though you'll need to ignore some minor bugs, not that textb