Beyond Karel J Robot: A Gentle Introduction to the Art of Object-Oriented Programming

by Joseph Bergin

This Second Edition of Beyond Karel J Robot trades comprehensive coverage of Java low level detail for an understanding of how a language like Java is used to build real programs. It's organization is not that of a reference work, but an enfolding of interesting and necessary concepts used by real programmers.A number of users have asked for more material in the spirit of Karel J Robot. The original book is intended for only the beginning weeks of a course, which leaves some the dilemma of what to do for the rest of the term. This volume is an attempt to discuss some additional ideas as well as some more Java features. The chapter numbering begins where Karel J Robot leaves off and we will frequently make mention of what was learned there. However, we begin to leave the robot world here and will discuss many ideas from beyond that world.The two volumes together should form the basis of a first course in computing using Java. While I have generally considered the guidelines of the College Board recommendations for the APCS AB advanced placement course, I have not attempted to be encyclopedic. We will see int, double, char, etc., but no attempt was made to provide all the rules and caveats of such things. Many books that call themselves text-books seem to me to be, instead, reference works, with everything gathered together nicely to ease looking up information, rather than books to learn from. Instead, I have attempted to show, for the most part, how the features of Java are used to build real programs. This is a book about writing programs, including some quite interesting and difficult programs. You may struggle with some of this material, but the struggle will take you to a better place. I hope you agree that it is worth the work you will put in to it.

315 pages, Paperback

Published July 3, 2023

About the author

Joseph Bergin has been teaching at Manchester since 1978, and is an internationally recognised expert on the history of early modern France, especially the seventeenth century. He has written six major books, one of which was awarded the Prix Richelieu in 1995, and edited a number of others. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1996 and has frequently been a visiting professor to French universities.