Cisco Networking Academy Program Fundamentals of Java Programming Lab Companion

Rating:
Summary: As simple as necessary, but no simpler
Review: When a person is taking their tentative first steps in learning a new programming language, the training material must be as simple as necessary, but no simpler. Too easy, and everyone is bored, yet too hard and most are lost. This book of introductory lessons is at just the right mix. Designed for the starting from scratch Java beginner, all of the basics of the language are introduced via hands on exercises.
The lessons have the form:

* Title, with estimated time to completion.
* Learning objective
* Description/scenario
* File management (if applicable)
* Preparation
* Tasks, broken into the sequential steps.

The basics of the Unified Modeling Language (UML) are also introduced and it is used to describe the classes to be constructed. This was an excellent approach, as the UML is a concise, easy to understand way to present the essentials of a class, which with the choice of the lessons, makes this a sound book for the study of Java.