CowboyMC said
This book is great, but it's not significantly different from the third edition. I would go so far as to boycott this edition. Authors should not create a new edition just to sell books. If you use this for class, talk to your teacher and ask them if it's OK to use the 3rd edition. DON'T BUY!
Michael M. Carbonara said
On 8/3/09 I paid $81.85 for this book new from amazon with free shipping.
On 8/11/09 (8 days after I bought it) they canceled the order stating that they are unable to ship it.
Now I'm scrambling to find it before my daughter starts college. It's now listed used for over $20.00 more!
No wonder they canceled my order. RIP OFF ARTIST!
Cowboy said
Why pay $122 for this edition when it has no new information in it and the 3rd edition costs $9.27 used. This book is used for my 2 course class. The first course I took required the 3rd edition and I am going to take the second course that requires the 4th edition. When I looked at the 4th edition, I was shocked that someone would write a new edition that didn't contain any new information. Now, I'm not saying this is not a great book. I loved this book. This edition should never have been written. Don't take my word for it. Here is what the book itself says. In Preface titled "Changes in This Edition" it says "Improved Qrganization in Chapter 3". That means he moved some things around, no new information in Chapter 3. "New In the Spotlight Sections" This is new, it is additional problems with detailed analysis. This is nice for reinforcing what's taught, but it doesn't teach anything new. "Video Notes" These are viodes on the website to accompany the text. This is nice to reforce the text learning, but no new information there. You can get the early edition and go to the website and view the videos without buying this edition. "Additional Programming Problems" This is nice but it had suficiant problems to start with. NO NEW INFO. If this text is required by your class, ask the teacher if you can use the previous edition. That is what I'm doing.
Jonathan Shier said
A fairly bland introduction to Java programming and computer science. Useful since I had to have it for a class, but the Big Java book was better. Also, I like the separation of GUI and command-line programming in Big Java. This book intermingles the two, which can be confusing to the beginner and is largely unnecessary until after the student is familiar with basic programming concepts.
Adam L. Robertson said
-I was forced to get this for my class, but surprisingly it's not as bad as I thought it would be
-Great explanations using examples and examples of code.
-It gives you projects to do
-Don't get if you're not taking a JAVA class...get a self guide rather than this school text book
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