Presents fundamentals first The book takes a traditional route, first stressing control structures, functions, procedural decomposition, and the built-in data structures. Objects are used when appropriate in the early chapters. Students start designing and implementing their own classes in Chapter 9. Practice makes perfect Before students begin to implement nontrivial programs, they need to have the confidence that they can succeed. This book contains a substantial number of self-check questions at the end of each section. Practice It pointers suggest exercises to try after each section, simple programming assignments, and a variety of online practice opportunities, including guided lab exercises, code completion questions, and skill-oriented multiple-choice questions provide ample opportunity for student programmers to practice what they are learning. A visual approach motivates the reader and eases navigation Photographs present visual analogies that explain the nature and behavior of computer concepts. Step-by-step figures illustrate complex programming operations. Syntax boxes and example tables clearly present a variety of typical and special cases in a compact format. Visuals can be browsed by students prior to focusing on the textual material. Guidance and worked examples help students succeed Beginning programmers often ask "How do I start?" and "Now what do I do?" While an activity as complex as programming cannot be reduced to cookbook-style instructions, step-by-step guidance is immensely helpful for building confidence and providing an outline for tasks at hand. The book contains a large number of How To guides for common tasks, together with additional worked examples and screencast videos on the web. A visual approach motivates the reader and eases navigation Photographs present visual analogies that explain the nature and behavior of computer concepts. Step-by-step figures illustrate complex programming operations. Syntax boxes and example tables clearly present a variety of typical and special cases in a compact format. Visuals can be browsed by students prior to focusing on the textual material.