This book is Part I of a two-part set that introduces the Java programming language. The text assumes the student will be using the BlueJ development environment and provides some introductory BlueJ material. Our experience has been that BlueJ is easy to learn and provides a good programming environment for the beginner programmer.

Summary:

• Chapter 1: This is a high-level introduction to Java. The typical HelloWorld program is discussed along with how to run HelloWorld in BlueJ.
• Chapter 2: Basic concepts having to do with constants, variables, data types, expressions and input/output are covered.
• Chapter 3: This chapter covers the major control structures a programmer uses.
• Chapter 4: Java provides a great deal of functionality in its class libraries. In this chapter we introduce several of these classes such as Random . . . Random gives the programmer the ability to simulate throwing dice or tossing coins. As well, useful functionality in utility classes such as Math, Integer, and Character are covered.
• Chapter 5: Many applications require a program to work with collections of data. For example, the set of courses at a university is a collection. Java programs must be able to manage such a set and the ArrayList data structure is well-suited to the task.
• Chapter 7: The program code in a Java system is managed in structures where the basic component is the class. A Java class contains data and executable code. This chapter covers concepts that must be understood if one is to design and implement a Java-based system.