Java: A Framework for Programming and Problem Solving

Rating:
Summary: Terrible
Review: This book attempts to address two needs and fails at both. First, as an introduction to basic computer science, the author's ambiguous style of writing seems to confuse most students. A poor sense of English grammar permeates the book. Secondly, as an introduction to Java, the book glosses over important details such as how to handle Strings properly. Don't bother... it is not worth your time.

Rating:
Summary: Makes learning easy..
Review: This book doesnt baby you, its simple and can be easy if you apply yourself and it comes with its own builder software (make sure the book you get has the disk or you are screwed!! you need it to do the work).. you will not be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Good intro for programming novices
Review: This book is a good intro for those who want to start learning computer programming in general and Java specifically. The authors ease you through basic programming concepts, including control statements, user defined methods, and loops. Eventually the get into heavier subjects like object-oriented programming, inheritance, and abstract data types.

The authors have even created their own library called BreezyGUI, which helps make web/GUI programming easier. While this is o.k., I would have prefered that they focused more on Java's AWT instead.

Although I thought this book was good as an intro to programming, if you're an experienced C or C++ programmer, this book probably won't work for you. I have a year's C++ experience, and the only reason I used it was to do an independent study comparing C++ and Java as a first programming language. I probably would have selected a more advanced text if not for the nature of my independent study.

That being said, I still think the book does a good job of presenting programming/Java concepts, and I do like the fact that the authors decided to go with a GUI approach instead of a CLI (Command Line Interface) approach. This will help keep the interest of those learning their first language, because they can make "cool" looking apps quickly.