It has been suggested to me by several reviewers including
this one at the Java Lobby that the
Java Phrasebook which I wrote last year would make an excellent text book or companion to a text book for a course on Java programming. After thinking about this, I think that coupled with some lecture notes or presentation slides, I agree that the
Java Phrasebook could serve as an excellent companion book for students in a Java programming course. A strength of the book in that usage scenario is that it offers wide breadth in terms of what it covers. It does not go into great depth on alot of java features and technologies, but it has over 200 phrases which illustrate how to perform some of the most common programming tasks. The book is broken down into the following chapters with each chapter including phrases illustrating how to perform common programming tasks related to the chapter’s subject:
- The Basics
- Interacting with the Environment
- Manipulating Strings
- Working with Data Structures
- Dates and Times
- Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions
- Numbers
- Input and Output
- Working with Directories and Files
- Network Clients
- Network Servers
- Sending and Receiving Email
- Database Access
- Using XML
- Using Threads
- Dynamic Programming Through Reflection
- Packaging and Documenting Classes
I could definitely see a programming course follow this same structure with lecture covering the details of each topic and the Phrasebook supplementing the lecture with practical examples and review material. The book could make an excellent study guide as well for students in a Java programming course.
If you have used the
Java Phrasebook in an educational course, I would love to hear from you. Education is another passion of mine, and it would be cool to hear that someone was using my book as an educational tool.
