FROM THE PUBLISHER

CyberRookies: 3D Comic Design is part of the CyberRookies series of books written for the technically savvy Net Generation (11-23 year olds) interested in computing. This book is written for aspiring programmers, and teaches basic programming skills that can be easily applied to any language including the key concepts of Loops, Strings, Array, Pointers, and more. Written by a high school programming teacher, Learning Computer Programming emphasizes the most relevant topics for beginners and pinpoints the essentials of programming success. There are so many programming languages in use today that it's difficult to decide which one to learn, especially for beginning programmers. With this in mind, Learning Computer Programming: It's Not About Languages focuses on ¿¿¿programming¿¿¿ skills instead of specific languages. Languages will always change so to become an effective programmer, it's important to understand the fundamentals before tackling a specific language. The book is language independent and uses examples from a variety of languages including the most popular C++, JAVA, and HTML, which each have a chapter devoted to them. Using helpful hints, activities, and watchouts, the book gently guides the student through the maze of programming techniques, concepts, and pitfalls. KEY FEATURES:
* Primarily language independent except for the last three chapters, which are devoted to languages of most interest to the reader: C++, JAVA, and HTML
* Introduces key programming concepts while avoiding denser topics of language syntax
* Discusses concepts such as Loops, Strings, Arrays, Pointers, Boolean Types, and more
* Taught by a programming teacher who knowsthe topics that are relevant for beginners TENTATIVE TOC CHAPTER 1: First Things First: The Computer as an Electronic Machine; Binary Code; Digital; The Algorithm. CHAPTER 2: Variables: Different Bytes For Different Types; Declaration vs. Assignment; Where to Get Data; Early Programming Problems-manipulation of data through holders. CHAPTER 3: Prioritize Your Operators-Just Like the Calculator: Arithmetic Operators; Mod and Div; Random Number Generator. CHAPTER 4: Loops: How to Spin Effectively: The For loop; The Counter Statement; The While loop; The Do/Repeat loop. CHAPTER 5: True or False: The Boolean Condition; The IF statement; The IF/ELSE statement; The CASE/SWITCH statement. CHAPTER 6: Some Interesting Programming Problems: Counters in Loops; Counters in Decisions; The Sum Statement. CHAPTER 7: Functions: Newer Languages Do Less and Less on Their Own; Function Headings vs. Bodies; The Parameter; Variable/Reference and Value/Copy; The Scope of Your Variables. CHAPTER 8: Graphics: The Old Days vs. Now; Whose Toolbox Are You Using?; Drawing By Hand or Drawing Through Calls; Examples of Graphics. CHAPTER 9: Running Out of Holders? It's Time for the Array!: The Array: Keeping What's Alike Together; Members Bound by Their Type; Loops Work Well With Arrays; Programming With Arrays. CHAPTER 10: Structures/Records and Fields: Programming With Records/Structures; Arrays of Records/Structures. CHAPTER 11: Files: The User vs. the File; Streams of Info/Data. CHAPTER 12: The Pointer: Static vs. Dynamic; The Best Use of Pointers. CHAPTER 13: Searching: the Linear/Sequential Search; the Binary Search. CHAPTER 14: Let's Put Things in Order: Sorting: Ascending vs. Descending Order; Some Sorts are Better Than Others; Alphabetization. CHAPTER 15: Recursion: Calling Yourself Over and Over Again. CHAPTER 16: HTML. CHAPTER 17: C++; CHAPTER 18: JAVA.

Author Biography Mary E. Farrell is a full-time teacher at Boston College High School, where she has taught beginning programming in three languages: BASIC, Pascal, and C++.

SYNOPSIS

CyberRookies: 3D Comic Design is part of the CyberRookies series of books written for the technically savvy Net Generation (11-23 year olds) interested in computing. This book is written for aspiring programmers, and teaches basic programming skills that can be easily applied to any language including the key concepts of Loops, Strings, Array, Pointers, and more. Written by a high school programming teacher, Learning Computer Programming emphasizes the most relevant topics for beginners and pinpoints the essentials of programming success. There are so many programming languages in use today that it's difficult to decide which one to learn, especially for beginning programmers. With this in mind, Learning Computer Programming: It's Not About Languages focuses on ¿¿¿programming¿¿¿ skills instead of specific languages. Languages will always change so to become an effective programmer, it's important to understand the fundamentals before tackling a specific language. The book is language independent and uses examples from a variety of languages including the most popular C++, JAVA, and HTML, which each have a chapter devoted to them. Using helpful hints, activities, and watchouts, the book gently guides the student through the maze of programming techniques, concepts, and pitfalls. KEY FEATURES

Searching: the Linear/Sequential Search; the Binary Search. CHAPTER 14: Let's Put Things in Order: Sorting: Ascending vs. Descending Order; Some Sorts are Better Than Others; Alphabetization. CHAPTER 15: Recursion: Calling Yourself Over and Over Again. CHAPTER 16: HTML. CHAPTER 17: C++; CHAPTER 18: JAVA.