Java Programming for the Absolute Beginner

Rating:
Summary: Good for people who want to learn how to program!
Review: I attended Sun Microsystems SL275 (their basic Java programming
course for people with C and C++ backgrounds). One of my jobs
was to write a courseware for high-school students. The course
was not a good basis for a high-school level programming course.
As such, I bought this book and it only took me a month to write
the Java for High-School courseware. I ended up with a Street
Fighter type game that needs to be completed by the students.

The author tends to discuss concepts that are a chapter or two
ahead but I found this normal especially when it comes to Object
Oriented Programming.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for programmers with general knowledge
Review: I bought this book and thought the programming projects in the book were awesome. All of the exercises are taught for use in game programming. While the author probably doesn't explain the language and fundamentals in depth (rather terse), he explains the fundamentals of how the games work. I've read Deitel's Java How To Program, and I recommend that to any Java beginners. If you want to learn how to program games in Java such as minesweeper, tetris, and others, get this book! It's awesome!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment
Review: I have already bought and read Palm Programming for the Absolute Beginner. I learned a lot with that book and it was extremely helpful. The author presented the language in a basic but informative way. At that time, I was an absolute beginner to computer programming. Now, I just bought Java Programming for the absolute beginner and was very disappointed. Not only does the author make no sense in explaining the language, but he also digresses to other topics that are just pointless. I don't recommend this book at all. If you have a problem with something, this book is not helpful. Hope this was helpful...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for new programmers
Review: I have been programming part time at school for about 8 months now. I started with C, then C++ and now Java. I started this book back in C++ since the two languages are similar in their OOP. Once I started Java I found myself to be way far ahead of the whole class. Each class being 10 weeks each, I should be ahead until they talk about Swing in week 8. The book is not meant to be a reference like one reviewer said, had a problem finding answers int the book. The book is designed to teach you object-oriented concepts along with learning the fundamentals of Java. It also explains everything in a way that anyone with interest but no programming experience could understand easily. If you have take a class or two on C++ you will probably want to skip to chapter 4 or 5. This book helped me attain a 4.0 average as I didn't have to get lost in a reference/text book all the time, but I could actually make things that made sense.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting but still informative
Review: This was probably one of the best programming books i've ever read. It is interesting all the way through but at the same time it teaches important programming concepts. It has many examples that you won't be bored with. This book demonstrates good writing skills and a great way to teach someone to program through the use of game programming.

Rating:
Summary: Java for the absolute biginner is a Great beginners book
Review: Wow, I'm impressed!
The auther doesn't asume your a dummy , just a beginner in the java language. I found this book to be interesting and fun. I learned how to program games that my kids love to play. You will not only come away from this book with a great foundation of Java but you will have some games that are fun to play for the whole family.Well worth the money
isbn #0761535225