This textbook enters a crowded field of titles aimed at the university “how to program” market, which includes many who are not computer science majors but may desire (or require) programming instruction [1,2,3].

While Java is a popular language, debate continues over object-oriented concepts. Specifically, in this case, should they be introduced early, or later, after procedural techniques are taught? This title is firmly in the latter camp: teach objects later. The main competitors in the college market split the difference in their latest edition, by creating two separate versions of their popular textbook, one for each approach [2,3].

Personally, I fall into the “teach objects early” camp, but can appreciate why procedural first makes some sense. And this title does a good job with its approach. Many end-of-chapter problems are included, and the publisher claims to provide many tools to make teaching easier (I did not receive them for review). The student aids include video clips for many portions of the text, and an online code review system. They don’t seem very valuable to me, but they are there.

This is a thorough, voluminous book, and a decent introduction. Before adoption, however, I would take a close look at the competition.

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