Java for Students

Summary

The third edition of Java for Students has a gradual step-by-step approach to learning Java that concentrates on GUI programs and programs that display graphical output. This text enables students to successfully learn the Java language and is based on internet applets. It also lucidly explains the creation of free-standing applications and text-based programs. Basic programming concepts are introduced early on, followed by event-driven programming and an introduction to object-oriented design.Stacked with graphics, Java for Students clearly demonstrates the important principles of modern programming design for students of all abilities.

Detailed Contents

vii

Introduction

The scope of Java

(9)

A first Java program

(11)

Introductory graphics

(10)

Variables and calculations

(15)

Methods and parameters

(16)

Events

(18)

Decisions - if and switch

(36)

Repetition - while, for and do

116

(24)

Objects and classes

140

(31)

Applet architecture

171

(11)

Inheritance

182

(16)

Calculations

198

(25)

Arrays and array lists

223

(34)

Arrays - two - dimensional

257

(19)

String manipulation

276

(23)

Exceptions

299

(16)

Graphical user interfaces

315

(15)

Free-standing programs

330

(14)

Files

344

(29)

Graphics and sound

373

(9)

OO design

382

(22)

Program style

404

(14)

Testing

418

(16)

Debugging

434

(9)

Threads

443

(41)

Programming in the large - packages

484

(6)

Advanced object-oriented programming - abstract classes and interfaces

490

(16)

Polymorphism

506

(21)

The Swing GUI components

527

(18)

Java - in context

545

(14)

Appendices

559

(60)

Bibliography

619

(5)

Glossary

624

(3)

Index

627

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

What this book will tell you This book explains: how to write Java programs; how to run Java programs as free-standing programs; how to invoke a Java program from a World-Wide Web browser. This book is for novices If you have never done any programming before--if you are a complete novice--this book is for you. This book assumes no prior knowledge of programming. It starts from scratch. It is written in a simple, direct style for maximum clarity. It is aimed primarily at first year undergraduates at universities and colleges, but it is also suitable for novices studying alone. Why Java? Java is probably one of the best programming languages to learn and use at the start of the 21st century, because of the following features. Java is small and beautiful The designers of Java have deliberately left out all the superfluous features of programming languages; they have cut the design to the bone. The result is a language that has all the necessary features, combined in an elegant and logical way. The design is lean and mean. It is easy to learn, but powerful. Java is object-oriented Object-oriented languages are the latest and most successful approach to programming. Object-oriented programming has been the most popular approach to programming in the late 1990s and now into the new millennium. Java is completely object-oriented from the ground up. It is not a language that has had object-orientedness grafted onto it as an afterthought. Java supports the Internet The main motivation for Java was to enable people to develop programs that use the Internet and the World-Wide Web. Java programs can easily be invoked from Web browsers like Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer to provide valuable and spectacular facilities. Also Java programs can be easily transmitted around the Internet and run on any computer. Java is general-purpose Although designed for writing World-Wide Web applications, Java is a truly general-purpose language. Anything that C++, Ada etc. can do, so can Java. Java is platform-independent Java programs will run on almost all computers--unchanged! Try that with any other programming language. (You almost certainly can't!) This is summed up in the slogan 'write once--run anywhere'. Java is robust If a Java program goes wrong (and programs do have that tendency), it won't create mayhem, damage and uncertainty. Because Java programs run inside a protective 'cage', the effects of any errors are confined and controlled. Java programs are even protected against infiltration by viruses. Java has libraries Because Java is a small language, most of its functionality is provided by pieces of program held in libraries. A whole host of library software is available to do graphics, Internet access and support graphical user interfaces (GUIs)--as well as the things ordinary programming languages do. You will need . . . To learn to program you need a computer and some software. There are several such systems around. A typical system is a PC (personal computer) with a Java Development Environment. This is software that allows you to prepare and run Java programs in a convenient way. A little history Java was originally called Oak, after the tree that grows outside the office of' its principal designer, James Gosling. He found out, however, that there is already a programming language called Oak. So the team had to think again. They bought their coffee at a local shop and one of the types of coffee was Java. So that was the name they chose. Java was designed by a team at Sun Microsystems, California. It arose from the need to construct software for consumer electronics--VCRs, TVs, telephones, pagers an