This is another text that describes itself as an introductory text suitable for a first year Computer Science course. The two main object-ives being to teach object-oriented programming and the foundations of real-world programming.

Throughout the book use is made of a Java package (javabook) that is available from the associated website. This gives the user a starting point to expand on and is useful for the beginner to see how packages are used. Full use is made of object diagrams to visually explain what a section or chapter is trying to achieve. Method call sequence diagrams are another useful visual way to explain programming to the beginner.

The book is split into fifteen chapters and an appendix explaining the javabook package.

Chapter zero is a nice addition and explains, briefly, background information on computing and number bases. The rest of the book describes basics; fundamentals of object-oriented programming, basics of Java programming and variable types and expressions; before going on to program control and file I/O.

Chapter fourteen is the real meat and designs from scratch a class roster program, using what has already been taught along with use of the javabook package to create a useful example of a real-world program. Nice additions are the back and front inside-cover diagrams of basic class declarations and use of the javabook package.

Although I have not tried all the programs in the text, I saw no glaring mistakes and would rate this as a suitable first text.