Programming Fundamentals Using JAVA: A Game Applications Approach

This is a Java textbook for beginning programmers that uses game programming as a central pedagogical tool to improve student engagement, learning outcomes, and retention. Game programming is incorporated into the text in a way that does not compromise the amount of material traditionally covered in a basic or advanced programming course and permits instructors who are not familiar with game programming and computer graphics concepts to realize their advantages. [ALL FILES ON THE COMPANION DISC MAY BE DOWNLOADED WITH AMAZON PROOF OF PURCHASE by writing to info@merclearning.com] The material presented in the book is in full compliance with the 2013 ACM / IEEE computer science curriculum guidelines and provides an in-depth discussion of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It has been used to teach programming to students whose majors are within and outside of the computing fields. The companion DVD includes a game environment that is easily integrated into projects created with the popular Java Development Environments (Eclipse, NetBeans, and JCreator) and includes a set of executable student games to pique students' interest by giving them a glimpse into their future capabilities. [ALL FILES ON THE COMPANION DISC MAY BE DOWNLOADED WITH AMAZON PROOF OF PURCHASE AT info@merclearning.com] The material in this book can be covered within one or two courses such as a basic programming course followed by an advanced programming course.

FEATURES
+Uses an objects-early approach to learning Java
+Follows the 2013 ACM/IEEE computer science curriculum guidelines
+Integrates game programming as a central pedagogical tool to improve student engagement, learning outcomes, and retention
+Includes a companion DVD with projects created with the popular Java Development Environments; also includes a set of executable student games, source code, and figures [ALL FILES ON THE COMPANION DISC MAY BE DOWNLOADED WITH AMAZON PROOF OF PURCHASE AT info@merclearning.com]
+Uses working programs to illustrate concepts under discussion
+Complete instructor’s resource package available upon adoption

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 2. Variables, Input / Output and Calculations 3. Methods, Classes, and Objects: A First Look 4. Boolean Expressions, Making Decisions, and Disk Input and Output 5. Repeating Statements: Loops 6. Arrays 7. Methods, Classes, and Objects: A Second Look 8. Inheritance 9. Recursion 10. Exceptions, A Second Pass 11. Graphical User Interfaces 12. Graphical User Interfaces: A Second Look 13. Generics and the API Collections Framework 14. Multi-Threading and Concurrency Appendices A. Description of the Game Environment B. Installing the Game Environment Package C. ASCII Table D. Java Key Words
E. Operators F. Glossary of Programming Terms G. Using the On-line API Documentation H. Solutions to Odd-Numbered Exercises.

ON THE DVD!
The companion DVD contains the following materials[ALL FILES ON THE COMPANION DISC MAY BE DOWNLOADED WITH AMAZON PROOF OF PURCHASE AT info@merclearning.com]:
+Samples of student-created games in an executable format with instructions
+The game environment with Eclipse, NetBeans, and JCreator template projects
+Source files for all of the applications presented in the text
+All of the images and figures from the text
+All of the appendices from the text
[ALL FILES ON THE COMPANION DISC MAY BE DOWNLOADED WITH AMAZON PROOF OF PURCHASE AT info@merclearning.com]

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
William McAllister (St. Joseph’s College, NY) has taught a wide range of computer science courses that include programming, computer graphics, and data structures and he has also authored a data structures textbook. S. Jane Fritz (St. Joseph’s College, NY) has taught programming courses in BASIC, Visual Basic, Pascal, C, C++, and Java. She has also co-authored several papers and has given a number of presentations at SIGCSE Conferences.