Currently used at many colleges universities & high schools this hands-on introduction to computer science is ideal for people with little or no programming experience The goal of this concise book is not just to teach you Java but to help you think like a computer scientist You'll learn how to program-a useful skill by itself-but you'll also discover how to use programming as a means to an end Authors Allen Downey & Chris Mayfield start with the most basic concepts & gradually move into topics that are more complex such as recursion & object-oriented programming Each brief chapter covers the material for one week of a college course &
Includes:: exercises to help you practice what you've learned Learn one concept at a time tackle complex topics in a series of small steps with examples Understand how to formulate problems think creatively about solutions & write programs clearly & accurately Determine which development techniques work best for you & practice the important skill of debugging Learn relationships among input & output decisions & loops classes & methods strings & arrays Work on exercises involving word games graphics puzzles & playing cards