After an introduction to input/output in Chapter 3, Chapter 4 is about "void" methods. This is an odd topic to choose for a chapter because void methods are just functions that don't return a result. The only problem is that the first functions we meet do return a result and we only meet void when we discover how to write our own functions. There is also a lot of confused "churn" about flow of control, parameters, arguments and stacks. This doesn't make anything seem easy. 

Chapter 5 gets to grips with conditionals and logic, but fails to emphasize that conditionals are just one of three fundamental types of flow of control. Again none of the presentation does much to enable the reader to see the bigger picture. 

Chapter 6 returns to functions but ones that return a value. Again a small distinction as we have already met functions that return a value. Inevitably we have a dose of recursion but again no deep thinking is explored. Chapter 7 introduces loops, the second great flow of control, and Chapter 8 introduces arrays - arguably what loops were invented to deal with. After arrays what could be more logical than to introduce strings in Chapter 9 but none of this is even slightly about thinking like a computer scientist; it is just about learning to program in Java. 

Chapter 10 is where we first meet objects properly - you can't avoid objects in Java as the main function is a method belonging to an object. Now here surely we get into some "thinking like a computer scientist". After all, objects are a key theoretical idea in computer science. We don't. What we get is a discussion of how to use some supplied objects in Java and, without investigating the object idea at all, we have objects used as parameters and return values. Then garbage collection is discussed and we learn about the null keyword and more small details. No bigger picture is even hinted at.

Why objects? This is just not answered. 

Chapter 11 moves on to consider classes without really drawing the distinction between class and instance. We do get a lot of detail about constructors and how to implement a class.

The remaining chapters have some interesting titles - Arrays of Objects, Objects of Arrays and Objects of Objects. These all feature examples of object-oriented data structures: a card object to form an array of cards; a deck object that contains an array of cards; and a hand collection of cards. There's a lot of detail without any clear statement of what murky water it is we are trying to navigate. 

This is a book that claims to be something it isn't. It isn't about learning to think like a computer scientist. It is just another book that introduces Java and not particularly well. The order of material is strange and not particularly logical and there are no "big signposts" to tell the reader where they are going and how it fits together. There are lots of places where some topic or other - usually recursion - is thrown in, probably to make the book seem more academic. and hence computer science oriented. 

If you are looking for a short idiosyncratic introduction to Java with a few examples, this might be the book for you. If you are looking for a book that will help you understand the deeper ideas behind programming, or even behind Java, you will need to look elsewhere. 

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