Learn to Program with Java

Rating:
Summary: Bad Ratings
Review: I used to value the reviews on Amazon until I purchased this book. If you think some of the Dummies series are not your style, well, this book speaks to you like a child. It is more like reading a work of fiction than a programming book. Sure, there are writing styles for beginners but this one goes too far. The book is written as a "day in the life of a teacher" and includes conversations with his students. Needless to say, I purchased this book to learn Java but left this book in the recycling of my hotel room after the first chapter and purchased another book. Very disappointed in both the book, and the high ratings it received on this site.

Rating:
Summary: Spectacular book for those with no experience
Review: I was browsing through a bookstore several weeks ago, when I came upon this book in a bookstore. What caught my eye immediately was the cover that said 'no experience' required. That certainly fits me, as I'm a retiree with time on my hands who just wanted to learn how to program.

At the time, I didn't know Java from C++ or Visual Basic---what I learned was that aside from the book, I didn't need to buy anything---Java is free, you just download it from Sun Microsystems.

I started browsing through the book, when I noticed that the book was written in the form of a story. I'm a former electrical engineer, and I never saw any technical book written like this one. I was so turned off I started to put the book back on the shelf, but before I could, I opened it again. I'm not lying when I tell you that I did this at least three times before finally buying the book.

I took the book home, started reading it and before I put it down was halfway through it. I actually began to feel like I was in this classroom with Rhonda, Kathy and Dave (just to name a few). It was amazing how every dumb question I was about to ask Rhonda came up with---Smiley has an amazing knack for putting himself in the place of a novice reader and anticipating questions. Not only were my dumb questions asked (and then expertly answered), I didn't have to embarrass myself by doing this in front of a class full of 22 year old wonderkids who would smirk at the old guy in the class---I could learn in the privacy of my house.

I can't say enough about this book--I know some of the other reviewers have said they were turned off by the classroom dialog, or by the basic nature of the book--but if you are like me, a fairly intelligent person who knows nothing about computers and programming languages, this book is definitely the one for you.

By the end of the book, you won't be an expert--Smiley makes that clear--but you will be able to write a Java program.

Rating:
Summary: Terrific for beginners
Review: I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is a newcomer to programming. Most of the other books on java assume some level of understanding of object-oriented languages. They often raise more questions in your mind than they answer. Mr. Smiley's approach is unique, in that he gradually builds each principle upon the previous one. He anticipates virtually every possible question a student might have, and explains the answer clearly and thoroughly. I read this book concurrently with Sams Teach Yourself Java 2 in 24 hours. After completing the books, I am not an expert programmer, but at least know enough to ask the right questions.

Rating:
Summary: Skeptic gives this book 5 stars
Review: I'll be the first to tell you that buying this book was a hard choice for me---I'm a skeptic, and whenever I see high praise for a book (especially when the author is a teacher) I figure it's just a bunch of his students posting reviews hoping to get an 'A' in his course. Also, unlike the other reviewers, I wasn't turned on by the thought of reading about a college programming class. If I wanted to sit through a college classroom with a bunch of people asking questions, I'd probably take a college course---but I hate the idea, and I really thought I'd hate this book. I was wrong.

I've been trying to learn Java on my own for the last two years, and I've bought and returned probably about a dozen. What made me buy the book is the fact that the reviewers said the book contained a working project developed during the course of the book.

That's what I needed desperately. Most books on programming have lots of examples--but they don't lead to anything. This book takes a single idea---a program to calculate student grades--and works with it until you have a completed Java program. By the end of the book, I actually knew how to write my own Java program.

I should say that despite what I thought, the cutesy classroom dialog didn't bother me all that much---it's an interesting way to write a book.

The author also has some additional material on Java posted on his website (including a chapter on Applet creation which interestingly isn't written using the cutesy classroom style--I'm not sure which one I like better).

As I say, I'm a skeptic at heart, and I'm giving this book five stars. Why? It's the first Java book I haven't returned. I'll probably keep it--or give it to one of my friends who needs to learn Java.

Rating:
Summary: Need to learn Java in a week--buy this book
Review: I'm a professional Visual Basic programmer, and to make a long story short, I was told to learn Java in a week in order to work on a short fuse project.

One of my co-workers, seeing the panic I was in, said it was too bad John Smiley hadn't yet written a book on Java, because she had learned Visual Basic in a week using his Learn to Program with Visual Basic book. In fact, it was sitting on her desk, and I took a few minutes to thumb through it. I said to her she must be kidding--the book read like a novel, not a computer manual--but she swore to me she couldn't put it down, and after completing the case study in the book and the exercises, she was able to confidentally program in Visual Basic.

While we were having this discussion, she did a search at Amazon and found that he had written a Java book. Before I could say anything, she ordered the book for me and two days later, I was using it to learn Java.

I must say that at first I thought the style of the book was pretty stupid---following a Java computer class at college---but it's amazing, once you get into it, you really can't put it down, and the level of detail and attention that the author uses to explain difficult concepts is great. I finished the book in two days, completed the exercises and excellent case study in the book, and was able to hit the ground running with my project at work.

In short, I loved the book, and I think that anyone--whether an experienced programmer like me or especially someone new to programming, will find it a useful and enjoyable way to learn Java programming.

Rating:
Summary: If you are looking to learn Java, this is the book for you
Review: I'm not a professional programmer---just someone who enjoys writing programs as a hobby. I signed up for John Smiley's Java Study Group, which is a Blackboard.com based learning environment. The Study Group used this book as the course textbook, and I found it to be a wonderful vehicle to learn Java---which I think is a more difficult language to learn than Visual Basic.

First off, I should tell you that I'm a big fan of John Smiley and his books. I have all four of his Visual Basic programming books, and I used them to learn how to write my first computer program. I've also participated in many of his on-line courses, and subscribe to his Visual Basic mailing list. When John Smiley writes a book, he builds a community around it, with a support structure consisting of a web page and mailing list. If you need help, you can also email him--and he'll actually write back to you, although not necessarily the same day or with a
direct answer (he is a teacher after all!)

Here's my evaluation of Learn to Program with Java:

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE BOOK:

1. It's written so that anyone can understand it, in other words, you don't have to be a nerd to understand it. My husband is a computer programmer, and if I want to be spoken to in 'geek-speak', I would have let him teach me Java. I needed a book that patiently explained, in detail, the fundamentals of Java programming, not only the how-to-do but the 'why's' behind the language. This book did exactly that.

2. In each chapter he presents a demonstration program to illustrate the points he is trying to make.

3. Each chapter has a series of exercises for the reader to complete, with detailed instructions to guide you in completing it. By my count, there are about 100 of these exercises which contribute greatly to your learning experience.

4. During the course of the book, a real-world working Java program is developed. Each chapter has a series of exercises in which the reader is given instructions to complete the project, so that by the end of the book, you'll have developed your very own Java program. Many books concentrate on developing lots of small programs---with the result being that at the end of the book all you really know how to do is write small programs. At the end of this book, you'll feel capable of tackling your own real-world program.

5. There are lots of screen shots (hundreds) to help make learning Java easier.

6. I found the book very well organized and laid out. it starts out dealing with fundamental programming concepts like variables, If statements, and loops, and then progresses to the more difficult topics of Objects, the essence of Java programming. By the way, his coverage and explanation of Objects is the best I've ever seen--and my husband the Java programmer agrees :)

7. The book is written in the context of an actual classroom using fictional students. I feel this approach is one the books greatest assets, although I recognize that some readers may not feel the same way (see below under 'What you may not like'). 'Students' ask questions, and the author answers them. Just like a real classroom, some students ask 'good' questions and other students ask 'dumb' questions. I must admit that many of the 'dumb' questions are those I would have had myself (but been too timid to ask) if I had learned Java at an actual school. I actually found myself growing to 'like' some of these 'students'---and anxiously waiting for one of them to ask their next question.

8. The style of the book makes it OK to be technically challenged. I can't recall a single phrase such as 'of course', 'obviously' or 'it goes without saying' like I find in so many other computer books. If the author has an ego, he isn't using his books to stroke it.

9. The author has an uncanny way of answering questions in the text just about the time they pop into your head. Not surprisingly, he does this by having one of his fictional students ask the question. This is an amazingly effective learning technique.

WHAT YOU MAY NOT LIKE

1. The style of the book which I like so much, a conversational style built around a fictional classroom, can bother some people, especially those people looking to get right to the 'meat' of the subject. This style probably inflates the page count of the book by a few pages, and there is a bunch of 'he said', 'Rhonda asked' type comments scattered throughout. However, I found the style amazingly effective---imagine Mr. Rogers teaching your High School Physics or Calculus class.

2. The book doesn't jump right into Java--instead, there's an initial chapter on the Systems Development Life Cycle and how to develop a Requirements Statement to work from. Some readers might find this a 'turn off', but personally, I found it very useful, and use the methodology in the programs I write.

3. The book is definitely introductory. It doesn't cover advanced Java topics, but the topics it does deal with it covers better than any other book I've seen. Let's put it this way--after you're done with this book, you should feel comfortable in writing your own Java program.

If you need to move onto advanced Java concepts, you'll have no problem reading some of those other books.

4. The book doesn't cover Applet creation, something I really wanted to learn, but the author has posted a chapter on Applet creation on his website at:

http://www.johnsmiley.com/java/chapter14.htm

In summary, I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn Java.

Rating:
Summary: Not for experienced programmers, but...
Review: I'm not an experienced prorammer, so it was perfect for me. This book has taken some criticism for how the college students sound like they are 10 years old, but as an instructor myself I know it is those "10 year old questions" that can really stump you. Mr. Smiley anticipates many of the questions a beginner would ask. This is where more advanced books like Deitel's "Java - How to Program" fail the beginner.

Another difference is Smiley's "single project" method. Deitel, like others, uses separate code examples to demonstrate separate concepts. At least for me, nothing sticks. With Smiley, developing one project throughout the book really reinforces new concepts. It also helps newbies learn something more important than language syntax, and that is how to program. I wish more authors realized that learning how to design and think through the solution to a problem comes before learning syntax.

I'm no expert after using this book, but I finally have a solid base and a sense of direction. Now I can use books like Deitel's to expend on my knowledge and fill in the details, and they will make more sense.

This books fulfills its purpose perfectly.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely the best introductory book on Java!
Review: I've bought a lot of books on Java, but this is definitely the best written book I've come across. It is so easy to read and to learn the material. If I had to choose one book to recommend to the beginning Java student, this would definitely be the one!

Rating:
Summary: Best Java Book for beginners
Review: I've done a Introductory to Java course at university and I thought Java was so hard to learn, until I came across this book, and after reading the reviews on here (amazon.com), I gave it a shot and bought the book, Im amazed how easier it was to learn with this book than with the university, Professor Smiley probably have heard this a million times already, but I have to say thank you for writing this book, it was the best, this is the one and only text book I've read from page one through to the index.(Yes, even the preface)

Anyway, Im now doing an intermediate java course at uni, (continuing from the intro course), after 3 lectures so far, I only wish that Professor Smiley had written an intermediate Java Book, the lecture was horrible compared to the book, The lecturer spent the whole 50 minutes lecture explaining what abstract and interfaces are, I understood it in 10 minutes with this book, and honestly, if I didnt read the book, I don't think I would've known what he was talking about. This book can teach ANYONE java.

Rating:
Summary: Falls Apart
Review: I've owned this book and after a few years the pages of the book fall out. This makes the book useless as a reference book. I've had the same problem with Tab books and Sams books. I keep my copy of "Teach Yourself Java1.2 in 21 Days" with rubber bands to keep the pages in. I think that it's time for the Japanese to make their appearence into the book industry. Beware of Osborne, Tab and Sams books.