Alice is a visual, object-based introduction to object-oriented (OO) programming. This textbook includes a CD containing the full version of Alice 2.0. Alice was written by a team at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), headed by Randy Pausch. As of the time of this writing, a preview of version 3.0 is online.

The forward by Kay extols the attributes of the language, with no reference at all to the text. The preface addresses the importance of making the learning experience highly motivating and meaningful to learners. Objects are tangible and visible; rather than deal with syntax, mathematics, and terminology, students see the outcomes of the drag-and-drop commands.

The CD was prepared for Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 2000, and Windows XP. I loaded Alice on a PC operating under Microsoft Vista; although the upload concluded with error messages and warnings, the program ran flawlessly.

The book is designed to be flexible, and suggestions are made for adapting the learning experience as part of a longer or self-contained course. The target learners are college students enrolled in a first-year programming course. The chapters are nicely organized, the language is easy to follow, and the full-color illustrations match what appears on the screen.

Because Alice was provided to the public without charge (by Pausch and CMU), other publishers of college-level programming texts have competitive products on the market. Nevertheless, given the charge of teaching an introductory programming course, I would use Alice and this book.