Book Review: Ground-Up Java by Philip Heller - Conclusion
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In conclusion, I think this is a really good introduction to programming. It is not so much a Java programming book, because I feel that it gives a good grounding in computing and teaches concepts that are transferable to other languages. My main criticism, if I must have one, is that in the early parts of the book, I believe there is too much detail for some of the lower-level concepts, such as assembly-level programming and bit-wise shift operations.
I can think of only one other area where the book might be lacking as an introduction to programming, and to be honest I have never seen this in any other book either. I think it would be good to see a list of, say, the top 10 most common programming errors, together with explanations of the problems and their solutions. There are many errors that almost every programmer will meet and it seems odd that methods for tackling such errors are so poorly documented. This is especially important for new programmers.
If you are already a competent programmer in a language other than Java, especially if it is an object-oriented language, then this book is not for you. If you have not programmed before, or perhaps just done a bit of web scripting, then Ground-Up Java could be a good book for you. If you teach Java and are looking for a book that provides a solid foundation for eager students, then look no further. In my opinion, it’s ideal as a teaching course because the book already provides much of the support material in the form of the animated illustrations. Well actually, it’s almost ideal. The software license agreement for the accompanying software grants only a single user license for personal, non-commercial use. So you’d better check with the publishers if you require more than this for your course.
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