Designed as a Java based textbook for beginning programmers, this book uses game programming as a central pedagogical tool to improve student engagement, learning outcomes, and retention. The new edition includes updating the GUI interface chapters from Swing based to FX based programs. The game programming is incorporated into the text in a way that does not compromise the amount of material traditionally covered in a basic programming or advanced Java programming course, and permits instructors who are not familiar with game programming and computer graphic concepts to realize the pedagogical advantages of using game programming. The book assumes the reader has no prior programming experience. Companion files include game sample, source code, game environments, and more (Files are also available for downloading by writing to the publisher.)

Features

+Features content in compliance with the latest ACM/IEEE computer science curriculum guidelines

+Introduces the basic programming concepts such as strings, loops, arrays, graphics, functions, classes, etc.

+Includes updating the GUI interface chapters (Chapters 11 and 12) from Swing based to FX based

+Contains material on programming of mobile applications and several simulations that graphically depict unseen runtime processes

+Includes companion files include game sample, source code, game environments and more (Files are also available for downloading by writing to the publisher.)

+Instructor’s resources available upon adoption

On the Companion Files! (Files are also available for downloading by writing to

the publisher at info@merclearning.com)

The companion disc in the back of the book contains the following materials:

+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

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Variables, Input/Output, and Calculations

Chapter 3 Methods, Classes, and Objects: A First Look

Chapter 4 Boolean Expressions, Making Decisions, and Disk Input and Output

Chapter 5 Repeating Statements: Loops

Chapter 6 Arrays

Chapter 7 Methods, Classes, and Objects: A Second Look

Chapter 8 Inheritance

Chapter 9 Recursion

Chapter 10 Exceptions: A Second Look

Chapter 11 Graphical User Interfaces

Chapter 12 Graphical User Interfaces: A Second Look

Chapter 13 Generics and the API Collection Framework

Chapter 14 Multithreading and Concurrency

Appendix A Description of the Game Environment

Appendix B Using the Game Environment Package

Appendix C ASCII Table

Appendix D Java Key Words

Appendix E Java Operators and Their Relative Precedence

Appendix F Using the Game Glossary of Programming Terms

Appendix G Using the Online API Documentation

Appendix H Solutions to Selected Odd Knowledge Exercises

About the Authors

William McAllister has taught a wide range of computer science courses that include basic programming, computer graphics, anddata structures.

S. Jane Fritz taught programming courses in BASIC, Visual Basic, Pascal, C, C++, and Java. She also co-authored several papers and gave a number of presentations at SIGCSE Conferences.