Java Programming employs a distinctive pedagogy that is both challenging and engaging. The text begins with programming fundamentals, moves through the object-oriented paradigm, and concludes with basic graphics and event-driven programming. The modularity of the text makes the book suitable for introductory and intermediate-level programming courses while the separation of graphics from basic programming structures makes the text easily adaptable to different styles of courses. Moreover, this approach is especially helpful to beginners, who when presented with programs that mix fundamentals with GUI design, events, and OOP, have difficulty separating these concepts.

Pedagogical features are key to Java Programming’s innovation:

• A "Just the Facts" summary of the fundamental ideas at the end of each chapter
• Bug Extermination tips on some commonly occurring bugs and hints for how best to avoid them
• Examples that follow an easy-to-understand format of problem description, Java solution, typical output, and discussion of the solution. Most are stand-alone programs that are dissected line by line
• Crossword puzzles that test student understand of terminology
• Short answer questions that check basic comprehension
• Debugging and tracing exercises that can be done without a computer
• Short programming problems that reinforce the concepts of the chapter
• Longer programming assignments that require some creativity and algorithm development
• The Bigger Picture sections are optional enrichments that explore a larger framework of ideas introduced in the chapter and extending beyond the study of programming.