Eck David J. Introduction to Programming Using Java

Version 6.0, June 2011. — Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 2011. — 758 p.Introduction to Programming Using Java is a free introductory computer programming textbook that uses Java as the language of instruction. It is suitable for use in an introductory programming course and for people who are trying to learn programming on their own. There are no prerequisites beyond a general familiarity with the ideas of computers and programs.There is enough material for a full year of college-level programming. Chapters 1 through 7 can be used as a textbook in a one-semester college-level course or in a year-long high school course. The remaining chapters can be covered in a second course.The Sixth Edition of the book covers “Java 5.0”, along with a few features that were interoducted in Java 6 and Java 7. While Java 5.0 introduced major new features that need to be covered in an introductory programming course, Java 6 and Java 7 did not. Whenever the text covers a feature that was not present in Java 5.0, that fact is explicitly noted. Note that Java applets appear throughout the pages of the on-line version of this book. Most of the applets require Java 5.0 or higher.In style, this is a textbook rather than a tutorial. That is, it concentrates on explaining concepts rather than giving step-by-step how-to-do-it guides. I have tried to use a conversational writing style that might be closer to classroom lecture than to a typical textbook. You’ll find programming exercises at the end of each chapter, except for Chapter 1. For each exercise, there is a web page that gives a detailed solution for that exercise, with the sort of discussion that I would give if I presented the solution in class. (Solutions to the exercises can be found only in the web version of the textbook.) I strongly advise that you read the exercise solutions if you want to get the most out of this book.This is certainly not a Java reference book, and it is not a comprehensive survey of all the features of Java. It is not written as a quick introduction to Java for people who already know another programming language. Instead, it is directed mainly towards people who are learning programming for the first time, and it is as much about general programming concepts as it is about Java in particular. I believe that Introduction to Programming using Java is fully competitive with the conventionally published, printed programming textbooks that are available on the market. (Well, all right, I’ll confess that I think it’s better).