Understanding Java

The overall aims of Understanding Java by Barry Cornelius are to introduce the main aspects of programming, to explain the constructs available in the Java programming language and to create an appropriate foundation for the construction of large programs.

Barry Cornelius has taught courses in Java at the University of Durham since 1996. This book is based on material taught by the author to students that are new to programming.

This book provides a thorough introduction to the Java programming language. It introduces the main aspects of programming, explains the constructs available in Java, and lays a foundation for the construction of large programs. The author clearly presents interface declaration at the same time as classes, allowing aspects of Java such as GUIs and Java 2's Collections API to be used and understood. He gradually introduces the various aspects of exceptions in order to get this topic across more solidly. Applets are presented later in the book so readers grasp the concepts needed to understand them. Coverage of Swing (rather than AWT) is also presented here. This book requires no programming experience, and is appropriate for those looking for and introduction to Java that focuses on solid programming practices rather than the intracacies of the language.

Key features

• Teaches interface declarations at the same time as class declarations.
• Suggests that each class should have methods called equals, hashCode, compareTo (if appropriate), toString and a constructor for cloning.
• Demonstrates how to provide a Java program with user interfaces involving components such as buttons, textfields, dialog boxes and menus (using the Swing API).
• Uses the Collections API in preference to teaching the student to implement the code for the classic data structures.
• Uses the WWW pages that document the Core APIs.
• Each chapter of the book ends with some useful tips for programming and debugging, and a section entitled "curios, controversies and cover-ups".

Contents

• 1. Examining the Structure of Java Programs.
• 2. Constructing Simple Programs.
• 3. Using Objects and Classes from Java's Core APIs.
• 4. Reading Values from the Keyboard.
• 5. Using Arithmetic Expressions to Represent Formulae.
• 6. Using if Statements to Make Decisions.
• 7. Using for Statements to Repeat Statements.
• 8. Using Methods to Organize Programs.
• 9. Using Other Forms of Control Statements.
• 10. Reading from and Writing to Files.
• 11. Using Interfaces and Classes to Produce New Types.
• 12. Looking at Other Examples of Interfaces and Classes.
• 13. Providing a GUI: Textfields and Buttons.
• 14. Manipulating Collections: Lists, Queues and Stacks.
• 15. Using an Array to Represent a Collection of Values.
• 16. Decoupling the Model from the User Interface.
• 17. Using Enumerations, Sets and Maps.
• 18. Providing a GUI: Menus and Internal Frames.
• 19. Deriving a Class from Another Class.
• 20. Producing Applets (for Use with the WWW).
• 21. Looking Briefly at Other Topics.
• Appendix A. Obtaining the Java 2 SDK and an Appropriate Text Editor.
• Appendix B. Compiling and Executing Programs Using the Java 2 SDK.
• Producing javadoc Documentation.