I'm using two very different textbooks for this course. The longer and more conventional one is Introduction to Programming Using Java: an Object-Oriented Approach, by David Arnow and Gerald Weiss, published by Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-31184-4. We'll also use A Little Java, A Few Patterns by Matthias Felleisen and Daniel P. Friedman, MIT Press, ISBN 0-262-56115-8. The latter book may feel like ``kid stuff'' at times, what with the cartoons and the chatty style, but it's actually by far the more mind-stretching of the two, and you'll need to read it very carefully. I'll give reading assignments from both textbooks in alternation.
You'll need to read an average of about 40 pages a week. You are responsible for everything in the reading assignments, whether or not I discuss it in a lecture. You are also responsible for checking my class Web page at least once a week or so; I often post assignments, corrections to assignments, solutions to assignments, etc. there.