Object-Oriented Software Design and Construction with Java

by Kafura, Dennis

• ISBN13: 9780130112644
• ISBN10: 013011264X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

Appropriate for courses in Intermediate JAVA Programming and Object-Oriented Design/Programming. This interactive on-line course/book offers an integrated presentation of concepts in OOP, issues in software engineering, and the language features of Java. Unlike many other bookswhich assume either (1) a strong background in software engineering and computer science or (2) absolutely no background in either disciplinethis book strikes a balance in level, designing coverage to be accessible and relevant to readers with limited experience in the subject matter.

Author Biography

Dennis Kafura is a professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Department of Computer Science.

Table of Contents

1. Basic Concepts.
2. Using Objects of a Single Class.
3. Using Objects of Different Classes.
4. Implementing a New Class.
5. Designing and Developing a Class.
6. Inheritance.
7. Building User Interfaces in Java.
8. Input/Output in Java.
9. Threads.

Excerpts

P R E F A C E AudienceThis book is intended for undergraduate students. It is assumed that the reader has had a single preceding programming course. Students at Virginia Tech have used drafts of this book in a first semester sophomore year course. In particular, only an understanding of basic data structures (e.g., linked lists, stacks) is needed, and that only in the second half of the course. A specific course on data structures is not required.This book focuses on the object-oriented programming aspects of Java. It is assumed that the syntax of the basic programming constructs (decisions, iterations, etc.) are known, or at least learned independently of this book. Since Java borrows much of its syntax from the "C" language, a basic familiarity with these programming constructs in "C" is adequate. Only a basic familiarity with "C" is required; it is not necessary to be an expert in this language. A person competent in a statically typed procedural language other than "C" should be able to understand most of what is contained in the book. Doing the programming exercises, of course, requires at least a minimal proficiency with the basic programming constructs of Java.The motivating examples and programming exercises do not assume familiarity with concepts or intuitions derived from experiences that would normally only occur during the junior or senior years of study. The problems are drawn from common graphical user interface (GUI) systems and from a model of a very simple ecological system. Anyone who has used a GUI-based document preparation systems, spreadsheet, drawing tool, or the like, has the necessary context for the user interface examples and problems. No special background is required for the ecological simulation.IntentThe most important intent is to support a person's study of object-oriented programming in Java. While only the Java language is described, the objectoriented concepts on which Java is based are realized in numerous other objectoriented programming languages including C++, Smalltalk, and Eiffel. The initial chapter describes the broad concepts of object-oriented programming without specific reference to Java. The broader object-oriented context is also reflected by the use of terms from different languages and analysis methods. For example, the terms "member function," "method," "operation," and "action" are used interchangeably. While distinctions can be drawn between these terms, the distinctions are not real differences for beginning students of object-oriented programming.An important secondary intent is to raise the student's level of programming competence by emphasizing:reuseThe value of software reuse is conveyed by initial and pervasive reuse of software in the presentation, exercises, and projects. In fact, few exercise calls for the development of a program "from scratch." Almost all exercises use a provided set of classes and, later, an extensive class library from the Java distribution.tools/techniquesThe tools and techniques needed to develop systems are presented in addition to the language features. Knowing the language and writing the code is only half (sometimes much less than half) of what is required to build a real system. Developers must also cope with testing, debugging, and documentation. While these are ideas are often covered in a senior-level software engineering course, the foundations for that more advanced study are established here.GUI libraryThrough the exercises and projects students learn object-oriented techniques for building GUI-based systems. The techniques and, later, the Java Swing toolkit, are intended to become a part of the student's repertoire, being used in programming projects in subsequent courses. This knowledge can be easily transferred to other similar class libraries.event-driven systemsExposure is given to event-driven systems. Begin