Recommended Books
Below are several books that I think will not only help you in CS251 but, they will also help you become a more competent programmer in general. I have recently started reading more programming text books and everyone has been extremly beneficial.
The Java Programming Language, Fourth Edition
Not only is this a fantastic reference book, it is the recommended text book for CS251. This book contains content and examples on almost everything we will be covering in this class. I will consistently be referencing this book through out the lab assignments because I will be using it to write many of them. Also, you should remember this book was written to be used as a reference (this means you shouldn't read it from start to finish).
Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide
This is a fantastic reference for the world's most popular Java IDE Eclipse! I highly suggest this for all CS students because the better you know how to utilize your tool the quicker you will get your projects done and the more time you'll have for writting really cool software. Did you know that you can have Eclipse generate all your comments for you? Did you know that if you press CTRL+SPACEBAR Eclipse will fill in the rest of that variable name for you? You'll learn these things (and more) from this book. Plus... It's so darn cute!
Debugging: The 9 Indespensible Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems
How many times have you smashed your head against your desk, scrapped your project, and started over because your code stopped working and you were sick of looking? I know I have done this many times. However, I have learned 9 great rules for squishing those bugs and keeping my code clean. This book has changed the way I write code. Also, it's only $10! Now that's a bargain!