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Allen Downey

Allen B. Downey

Think Java: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist 1st Edition

by Allen B. Downey (Author), Chris Mayfield (Author)

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Currently used at many colleges, universities, and 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 and Chris Mayfield start with the most basic concepts and gradually move into topics that are more complex, such as recursion and object-oriented programming. Each brief chapter covers the material for one week of a college course and 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, and write programs clearly and accurately
Determine which development techniques work best for you, and practice the important skill of debugging
Learn relationships among input and output, decisions and loops, classes and methods, strings and arrays
Work on exercises involving word games, graphics, puzzles, and playing cards

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ISBN-10

9781491929568
ISBN-13

978-1491929568
Edition

1st
Publisher

O'Reilly Media
Publication date

June 28, 2016
Language

English
Dimensions

6.9 x 0.57 x 8.9 inches
Print length

249 pages

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Think Java: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist
Allen B. Downey

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Sharing the knowledge of experts

O'Reilly's mission is to change the world by sharing the knowledge of innovators. For over 40 years, we've inspired companies and individuals to do new things (and do them better) by providing the skills and understanding that are necessary for success.

Our customers are hungry to build the innovations that propel the world forward. And we help them do just that.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Allen B. Downey is a Professor of Computer Science at Olin College of Engineering. He has taught at Wellesley College, Colby College, and U.C. Berkeley. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from MIT.

Chris Mayfield is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at James Madison University, with a research focus on CS education and professional development. He has a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Purdue University and Bachelor's degrees in CS and German from the University of Utah.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1491929561
Publisher ‏ : ‎ O'Reilly Media
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 28, 2016
Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 249 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781491929568
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1491929568
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.01 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.9 x 0.57 x 8.9 inches
Best Sellers Rank: #674,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #42 in Computer Programming Structured Design
- #50 in Object-Oriented Software Design
- #176 in Object-Oriented Design
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Allen Downey
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Allen Downey is a Professor Emeritus at Olin College and Principal Data Scientist at PyMC Labs. He is the author of several books related to programming and data science, including Probably Overthinking It, Think Python, Think Stats, and Think Bayes. The idea behind these books is that if you know how to program, you can use that skill to learn other things.
Allen has a Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley and M.S. and B.S. degrees from MIT. He has taught at Olin College, Colby College and Wellesley College.
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Allen B. Downey
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Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
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Chris Mayfield
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Chris Mayfield is an assistant professor of Computer Science at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. He enjoys running, biking, hiking, singing, coding, and of course, teaching. His current work focuses on CS education and professional development, particularly in K-12 schools. Chris and his wife Stacie are the proud parents of four children.
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bej
feel like they've learned more after reading chapter 1 than after ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I used this text for teaching a high school classroom Java (first year teaching programming.) Before we obtained this text we were using a free MOOC via edX (a Java class provided by some teachers at Purdue University.) My students and I found that online class frustrating and poorly designed, so I began looking for a textbook. My students, almost without exception, feel like they've learned more after reading chapter 1 than after 5 weeks of the edX course online. The style is clear, the pace is fair, and so far it seems to be an excellent fit for first-time programmers. ALSO, the copyright is the Creative Commons type, which means I was able to legally make a copy of this text for each of my students (at no cost to me, just to my school district's copy shop.) Also, in addition to providing each student their own free copy, I was able to share with them a link to a free pdf version online (for easy reading on their phones/tablets.) Finally, there's a free version of the book online that is interactive (i.e., while reading the book you can enter actual code to practice content.) Overall, I'm very pleased with this book, and recommend it. (Caveat: I haven't used any other Java texts, and I'm a brand new teacher so take that into consideration. If you're looking for a much more thorough and in-depth text for Java, I've been told by experienced teachers that "Big Java" by Cay Horstmann is excellent.)

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11 people found this helpful

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Justin
Introduces terms and ideas one at a time and makes them easy to understand.
Reviewed in the United States on July 15, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I am a computer science student and I highly recommend this book. One of the things a lot of people struggle with when learning Java is that to learn one new term, you have to learn another. For example, what is an object? It's a blueprint for a class. What does a class do? Describes an objects state and behavior. What are state and behavior? etc. etc. etc.

The best thing about this book is that it introduces terms one at a time and breaks them down to where they are easy to understand. It is an easy read and I wish I would have discovered it sooner.

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4 people found this helpful

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Miguel P
I enjoyed the book enough to create a reading habit!
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018
Format: Paperback
//Review has been altered to shorten it and conform with Amazon's guidelines.

public class Review
{
double review = 4.0;
public static void main (String[] args)
{

System.out.println("This book is outstanding for beginners! "
+ "However, the learning curve becomes steep after chapter 8 (arrays).");

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3 people found this helpful

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Mikke
Good beginners book
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
Is a great read to bootstrap a newbie with practical examples and exercises. Promotes the use of design patterns and the reading is enjoyable

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JROKC
Good book!
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is a good book. It offers a nice foundation. It is not overly hard to follow, but it still covers important details. It will not teach you everything there is to know about Java, but it is a really good start.

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3 people found this helpful

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M.
Amazing!
Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is the best book on programming I've read (and I've read quite a few over the years). The text is accessible to the novice programmer, but also manages to preserve a great deal of intellectual depth.

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2 people found this helpful

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chungking
Falls short as an intro to Java
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2016
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I loved _Think Python_ by the same primary author. It is a very readable and well-paced introduction to programming, and also teaches a great deal about the Python programming language.

This book attempts to do something similar, but in a different language: Java. The problem is that the Java programming paradigm - how it is used in practice - is very different from Python, and I don't think this book is really "Java-ish." Their intro to programming is fine, but as an intro to Java, it falls short. The level of Java reached in this book is elementary - you will be forced to supplement with something else. E.g. generics, comparators, are not covered.

TL;dr I wouldn't recommend this book to learn to program (better is _Think Python_), and for experienced programmers, I definitely wouldn't recommend it to learn Java.)

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7 people found this helpful

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V-Len
... I don't think it really taught me to think like a computer scientist
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A learned a few things but I don't think it really taught me to think like a computer scientist.

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saszar
perfect book for beginners
Reviewed in Spain on July 10, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It is a book that just goes to the main points trying to make the reader understand the main topics.
If you want to learn more and go into detail you must get some extra books.

It is the perfect book for beginners

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Buchfuchs23
Great book!
Reviewed in Germany on August 22, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This book is an awesome piece of work, which will introduce you step by step to the world of computer science in a concrete and professional way. Nothing to complain about, simple a good book for beginners.

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Elizabeth
Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on March 7, 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Good textbook.

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HCH
A very useful and understandable book for the absolute beginners
Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
Clear and logical course structure and content. Because of this, a very useful and understandable book for the absolute beginners. I enjoyed reading and using this book.

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sayra
The book itself is an amazing / concise / easy-to-understand guide to Java & Computer ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2017
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
The book itself is an amazing / concise / easy-to-understand guide to Java & Computer Science which most books don't seem to cover.

The physical book arrived with some strange residue akin to that of a sticky label present on it.

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5.0 out of 5 stars perfect book for beginners

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

5.0 out of 5 stars A very useful and understandable book for the absolute beginners

4.0 out of 5 stars The book itself is an amazing / concise / easy-to-understand guide to Java & Computer ...

perfect book for beginners

Great book!

Five Stars

A very useful and understandable book for the absolute beginners

The book itself is an amazing / concise / easy-to-understand guide to Java & Computer ...