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

By: Joseph Bergin and Mark Stehlik and Jim Roberts and Rich Pattis

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Synopsis: Karel J. Robot updates Karel the Robot and even Karel++ to provide a means of introducing novice programmers to object-oriented programming (OOP). This book maintains the simplicity of the original and yet provides instruction that is thoroughly object-oriented from the beginning. Where the original used a syntax and methodology derived from Pascal, the present text is 100% Java. In object-oriented programming, a computation is carried out by a set of interacting objects. Here, the objects are robots that exist in a simple world. There can be one or several robots assigned to a task. The programming task is divided into two parts. The first part is defining the capabilities of the robots that are needed. The second is providing a description of the task for the robots to perform. The programmer uses his or her problem solving skills on both parts of this task. This version goes beyond the earlier Karel++ to put more emphasis on polymorphism, the primary distinction between procedural programming and object-oriented programming. There is also an introduction to simple but important design patterns, such as those that have recently revolutionized software practice.