Objects Have Class: An Introduction to Programming with Java with CD-ROM and OLC

Rating:
Summary: Caution: You might be confused
Review: First of all I am a EE major and not a CS major. That being out of the way this book is more or less useless. True, it does introduce you to Animator and some programming. However, what it does NOT do is help with learning JAVA. I myself understand what I need my program to do but am frustrated by how to do just that on some of his assignments and his exams. If you are not required to purchase this book don't otherwise if you are well there is not much I can say. In addition, a book that I have found that may be useful is Beginning Java Objects. Other reviewers have made suggestions of titles that are more useful then this one. If you are a nonprogrammer it is worth your while to invest in one of the books mentioned by me or the other reviewers. Hell, the tutors make it easier to understand JAVA then this "book" does.

Rating:
Summary: Objects May Have Class, But This Book Doesn't
Review: I'll try to keep short. Pop's book is not worth buying if you want to learn Java. Why? Well let's look at the pros and cons of this book

Pros
-Easy to read (Text is decent sized, organization makes some sense)
-You can learn from the book (Not much, but....)

Cons
-Talks down to you (If your using the book, you're probably in college and aren't not a child)
-Animator (When will you use this out of class? Never!)
-Hard to read (Organization can also be bad at times. For example, Pop sometimes cuts sections of text in half with a few pages of code)
-Pop doesn't write code in a convenetional sense. He has his own 'unique' style. This seems to throw some people for a loop.
-You don't learn that much from the book

So would a recommend that someone should buy this book? No, there are better one's out there such as "Beginning Java Objects: From Concepts to Code".

Rating:
Summary: My goodness!! What a piece of crap!!
Review: If I could sum up this book in one word, it would have to be WOW! And I don't mean "Wow, what a fantasic book!!", but rather "Wow!! This book is absolutely no help to me what-so-ever!"

As others have stated, this book is poorly written. It teaches down to you. How is that supposed to make you want to learn Java? Also, what's the deal with this 'animator'? Poplawski makes his little program (an applet actually) sound like God's gift to beginning Java. It's not! You're never going to use it ever again after you use the book, but he still insists on you learning commands for it! Why? Clearly, Poplawski doesn't have a clue on how to teach Java (A fact he backs back quite well during his lectures, should you have the displeasure of attending one).

Do not buy this. You can get much better references and instruction manuals than this. Better yet, you can get many of these other guides for cheaper than this.

Rating:
Summary: I don't know about this book
Review: Objects Have Class! does an excellent job of explaining to the reader the fundamentals of Java and an object-oriented paradigm. Likewise, it explains cocepts in a straightfoward, easy-to-follow manner...Only a completely naive person would describe Dave Poplawski's explanatory methods as being overly simple or "childish" or "just starting on your first computer." The fact of the matter is that through brilliant code examples and a helpful animator, THE PRINCIPAL CONCEPTS/TECHNIQUES in object oriented programming are taught - an aspect that is DIRECTLY STATED ON THE BACK COVER OF THE BOOK. If you purchase this book with the intent of becoming a "Bad...Java Dude!" - please don't. The bottom line is that the book successfully accomplishes it's clearly stated goal: ... give students an thorough introduction to java and the object-oriented paradigm.

3. Anybody who said the Documentation would teach a person better than the book obviously did not get an "A" in Dave Poplawski's class or is too stupid to realize that they actually did learn something from the book.

Rating:
Summary: Objects May Have Class, But This Book Doesn't
Review: Pros:
Text isn't too hard on the eyes.
Interesting title.

Cons:
Everything else

Summary:
It's a mishmash of actual programming concepts surrounded by total and absolute junk, but it might be good for people who think programming is a doing lines of cocaine until you pass out.