This is your basic undergrad textbook for CS 101. It's structured in the same way as dozens of other university/college technical textbooks nowadays: 1. each chapter begins with a bulleted list of objectives 2. each chapter concludes with a summary of key concepts 3. lots of end-of-chapter exercises and review questions 4. lots of in-chapter sample code, flow charts and diagrams.

It assumes no previous computer experience so it begins with a chapter on computer fundamentals. Then it moves onto Java programming. It covers all the basics of OOP and Java for the beginning programmer. It does so in a clear and straightforward manner. Sometimes it's a little on the boring side, though. One big complaint: this book has lots of in-chapter 'key concepts' boxes located throughout. These are positioned on the page in such a way so as to indent the text. I found this VERY irritating as my eye kept being distracted from the main body of the text. Overall though a solid intro to Java.

Best Book for Learning Java at beginner's Level

Rating: 5/5

I think this is one of the best books for teaching java to Beginners. This is blend of programming concepts, system analyis and design, and data structures. Author has very well explained that how java has provided or can provide solutions in different areas of Computer Science mentioned above.

Secondly, most important thing is that it is the best book for teaching because it has a lot of practise exercises and small and workable projects at the end of each chapter which I think are missing in most of Java books.

Java is powerful because of its APIs (already built classes in java). This book has given major classes, their variables and methods at the end which help the programmer very much when he is programming.

I think this book is a must-have for teachers as well as students.

Had to buy something else...

Rating: 2/5

This book was assigned as the text for my applications programming class. Even though I faithfully read and highlighted each section, I was still completley lost. While I normally appreciate succinct writing, this book is a little bit *too* right to the point. I don't find the explanations of key concepts to be thorough enough for a rank beginner like myself, and the code examples are not really all that helpful.

In hopes of salvaging my GPA, I went and bought Learn To Program with Java by John Smiley, and found it to be much more useful. The book is written as if you are sitting in a programming class, with fellow students who ask very lucid and insightful questions. I recommend it instead, if you are looking to be hand-held through your first Java programming experiences.