"Just Java" Book

I teach IT training classes. Do you feel this book to be suitable for a retraining program, retooling mainframe programmers in Java technology?

Thanks.

patm

Hi Pat,

Yeah, I do. When I wrote this text, I didn't want to have to explain what an "If" statement is
because it would double the size of it. So I qualified the readers by stipulating that they had to
be familiar with some other programming language -- any programming language -- and not
be complete novices new to programming.

So, your class of IT professionals re-tooling from mainframes to web systems are RIGHT in the
vanguard of the target audience I had in mind.

Other things, I do explain from first principles.
Your IT folks have probably not met Object Oriented Programming before. So I take the time to
spell it out completely (it sounds scary to people new to OOP, but it is based on a few
straightforward principles). Likewise the concept of "types" is important, so I go through that
at a gentle pace.

I tried hard to include things that are popular with teachers, too. Things like including
a range of assignments at the end of many of the chapters. Keen students can work through
them, or teachers can explicitly set the homework.

A few people seem to write books to demonstrate how clever they are (I got heartily sick of
those kind of books in college). My approach is different - I want to spell things out in
simple terms and relate it to other material people are already familiar with. Just Java is an
example of that.

By the way, my own background includes a long spell in IT - it's the bread-and-butter of the
computer industry, so I have something important in common with your class members.

Cheers!

Peter

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your quick response. I'll buy a copy of the book (if I don't win a copy) and review it with an eye to using it in my next class.

Thanks.

Pat

Hi, Pat -

You're not "retooling" mainframe programmers, you're "rehabilitating" them! (I'm a mainframe escapee, if you haven't guessed!)