Mimi said
This book helped me tremendously through my intro to Java courses! I went into the first day of class with no knowledge of Java, but the book explains a lot of the concepts very well. The lectures by Marty were very good at summarizing the contents of the book, but due to the time limitation, not everything can be covered in class, but the book wrapped up everything that could not be covered in class very well. Also, the supplementary website that goes along with the book (i.e. Practice-It) helped me prepared for exams, and provided a lot of short, challenging programming problems that were essential in understanding the mechanism of different data structures in Java. The way the concepts are presented in the book made me smile a lot - there are a lot of funny examples in the book, just very entertaining to read through! This is a must-have for Java beginners!
Spencer Thomas said
I took two computer science classes that were based around this book, and having glanced through several other programming books and other tutorials, I would say that this book has probably the most logical structure, the most fluid explanations, and overall a format that is easy to follow, without dumbing itself down.
The book achieves, which I believe others do not, a way of demonstrating how code works, rather than just showing code that works. The book is not even based on example code - in fact, it feels like it is written in such a way, that I could have easily picked up the book in my spare time, and learned the majority of the class contents simply by reading it cover to cover. Most programming books I have looked at are otherwise filled with unnecessary examples which are hard to follow, and some incoherent explanations.
Aside from being well-structured and coherent, there are also several resources included with the book. For example, each chapter culminates with a series of example problems. While they are not entirely a necessity to ones' understanding, they are good for those who wish to have a deeper understanding of the topics presented. Furthermore, the book was very well-synchronized with the slides presented in class, which are designed to coincide with the contents of the book. Overall, while both the class and the book were great, I would say that the book was an important part in making programming a topic that I could grasp easily.
N. Sterr said
Building Java Programs was a great book to use while learning Java programming. The book is written very well and is easy to understand, even for people who have never attempted programming before. For those of us who have programming experience, the book was still informative and provided lots of good examples and practice problems. The supplemental materials (slides, assignments, etc) were very helpful. They provided some extra information and practice that corresponds to the chapters in the book. The online Practice-It! program was great as well, letting you write and test Java code for all kinds of sample problems online with instant results. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in learning Java programming, or anyone who wants to brush up on their skills.
Brian D. Walker said
There are a lot of programming books out there and most of them suck. They aren't easy to follow and the explanations are not straight forward. This book on the other hand is written in a way that is easy for someone who has never programmed before to pick up and understand. The examples are easy to follow and the reading isn't dry. This is the best programming book that I have ever read and I have read a few. If you are learning Java do yourself a favor and pick this one up!
Daniel B. Beus said
I bought this book for my first "Programming in Java" class as it was the required book. The book itself is great. It's very well written and even to understand -- even for someone who had never programmed in Java. However, I bought this book on the first day of class after receiving the syllabus and hoped to have it by the following week so I could study for the quizzes. Unfortunately, it took almost 2 weeks to get the book. I had already had to guess on two of the quizzes because I could not study.
Update: It has now been over a month since I ordered this book. I paid for the overnight shipping and expected to receive it within a day or two. Amazon just sent me an e-mail saying that I may not even get it for another two weeks. I will seriously reconsider shopping here again.
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