Resources for Teaching Java

updated 8/25/02 This page contains a collection of known resources which may be helpful to those adopting Java as a Computer Science core course language.
I am merely a collector of these resources, and cannot guarantee their continued availability or accessibility. If you encounter any stale link specified herein, or if you have new resources that may be of interest, please email me: mliu@csc.calpoly.edu

General

The Pro's and Con's of Java as the First Language for Computer Science Majors

John Hopkin's University Java Resource Site
Professor John Dalbey's academic site, which contains sample course materials for core courses: lab exercises, etc.

Potential Text Books

(Note: In addition to those listed below, there is currently a large number of textbooks available that use Java as the programming language. Readers are recommended to visit the various publishers' sites for a full list.)
There is, as K. N. King put it, "a plethora of (text) books" on Java programming, as you well know. However, a common observation is that as yet there is not a book suitable for course materials. I have included below a list of books that are (i) not programming-centric, and (ii) not trade-oriented.

Prentice Hall offerings:
- Java: An Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Walter Savitch, Prentice Hall.
- An introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms with Java, Glenn Rowe, Prentice Hall.
Addison-Wesley offerings:
- Java Software Solutions: Foundations of Program Design, John Lewis
- Problem Solving with Java, Elliot Koffman and Ursula Wolz.
- Data Structures and Problem Solving Using Java by Mark Allen Weiss.
Wiley:
- Computing Concepts with Java 2 Essentials by Cay Horstmann, Wiley: a text book for introductory computing using Java.

Reference books

The Java Language Specification
Thinking in Java, Bruce Eckel, Prentice Hall.
Just Java by Peter van der Linden, Sunsoft Books, Prentice Hall.
Core Java 2, Volume 1: Fundamentals: by Cay Horstmann, Prentice Hall.
Java in a nutshell, a popular O'Reilley book explaining Java 1.1
"Java Programmer's Reference" by Grant Palmer: a no-nonsense reference book that provides coverage of the 12 most commonly used packages in the Java 2 Platform Standard Edition version 1.3. It is designed to allow Java progammers to access the information they need as quickly as possible. Each package is covered in detail with the important classes and methods discussed and placed in a logical context. Over 350 clear, concise examples demonstrate how to apply the classes and methods.

Books on the Java Class Libraries

"The Java Class Libraries, Second Edition, Volumes 1 and 2" by P. Chan, R. Lee, and D. Kramer, Addison-Wesley
"The Java Class Libraries: 1.2 Supplement, Volume 1 (Vol 2 due soon) by the same authors.

Books on specific Java features or packages

"Java Threads, Second Edition" by Scott Oaks and Henry Wong (O'Reilly)
"Java I/O" by E. Harold (O'Reilly)
"Up to Speed with Swing" by S. Gutz (Manning)

Java Integrated Development Environments

Suitable for Core Courses:
- JCreator
- BlueJ The Interactive Java Environment
Advanced:
- Together J
- IBM's Visual Age Java
- Code Warrior, Metrowerk
- Inprise (Borland) JBuilder; downloadable via this link.
- IBM Visual Age for Java
- Symantec Visual Cafe
- Oracle JDeveloper (this is JBuilder licensed from Borland and enhanced for DB work
- Sybase, PowerJ
- Sun Java Workshop
- The GNU FreeBuilder

Java Coding Standard

Doug Lea's "Draft Java Coding Standard"

Java Tutorials

Object Initialization in Java, an article by Bill Venners.
Java Language Basics, a Java Developer Connection tutorial.
Quizzes for testing your learning on various Java topics, a Java Developer Connection tutorial.
Writing Advanced Applications for the Java Platform, a Java Developer Connection tutorial.
Debugging Java Applications, applets, and servlets, a Java Developer Connection tutorial.
The Java Tutorial SunMicro's online Java Tutorial
free Java Online training courses provided by IBM.
Porting C++ to JavaOnline tutorial provided by IBM.
Professor Kevin Sullivan's Learning Java Site
Java Coffee Break tutorials and resources
A nice Java tutorial for beginners written by graduate students.
A free Java course you can read on the web.
An index to over 25 Java tutorials!
Netscape's index to everything you can imagine about Java.

Other Resources

Java Pitfalls Beware! There be dragons!
Java is not the only language for the Java Virtual Machine. Check out this list of language translators.
Making Sense of Java (technical discussion of hype vs. reality)

Course Materials

Weiss' Data Structure Lectures course calendar