Book Review: Ground-Up Java by Philip Heller
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If you're new to the wonderful world of Java, you may be looking for a good reference/introductory guide to get you started. In his latest article, Simon reviews Ground-Up Java. Read on to find out whether it's a suitable book for those looking to learn Java.
Ground-Up Java was published in November 2003 and is aimed at those with little or no programming experience who wish to learn Java. “Not another Java book!” I hear you cry. Well, yes - but this one’s different. Apart from assuming no prior knowledge of programming (where many Java books assume prior knowledge of C or C++), this book makes an earnest attempt to engage the newbie Java programmer in well-bounded activities of programming discovery right from the start. I say ‘well-bounded’ because the software supplied with the book sets limits on what you can do. And for someone at the start of their programming career, this should be seen as a virtue rather than a real limitation. For example, it means readers have no need to fix a syntax error until they are better equipped to deal with it. If you are teaching yourself programming from the book (and don’t have a more experienced programmer at hand to help you out if you get stuck), then this is exactly what you would want.
The book has 393 pages in 17 chapters, but in my opinion these chapters can be grouped such that the book divides into three parts:
- Part 1: Introduction to Programming (chapters 1-6)
- Part 2: Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming (chapters 7-11)
- Part 3: Core Java Packages and Using Java in Practice (chapters 12-17)
Next: Part 1: Introduction to Programming >>
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