| The robot metaphor clearly develops the student's understanding of OO-programming, and of programming in general. The control language for Karel is rather simple, but a lot can be done with it, and the graphics simulation makes it very clear to the student what the program is doing. |
| Stuart C. Shapiro, Professor The State University of New York |
Becker, for the first time in practise, is skillfully fusing Karel the Robot with a full treatment of Java. This unique approach unleashes the visual power of Karel to introduce many important Java concepts, from variables to inheritance. |
| Peter Brusilovsky, Professor University of Pittsburgh |
This book is the only book I've ever seen that has a sensible objects-first approach to programming instruction. While most books dive right in to an abstract, unintuitive explanation of objects (for example, an explanation of the java.lang.String class), a simulated robot presents an intuitively obvious model for
understanding objects. The book proceeds effectively, naturally builds on this
strong foundation, leading the students to a solid understanding of
object-oriented programming. |
| Professor Michael Panitz, Founding
Faculty Cascadia Community College Bothell, Washington |