The Structure of This Book

Think of this book in four parts . The first includes a general introduction to Java and its development history. Following this are chapters that discuss migration issues from Fortan, C, or C++ to Java. You will find that much of the basic syntax is the same between C, C++, and Java. There are some important differences, though, that these chapters will bring to light.

The second part goes over the basic elements of the Java language with an emphasis on topics pertinent to technical programming. Following a discussion of basic object-oriented programming concepts, there are chapters that discuss classes, methods , and variables . Interfaces, packages, and JAR files are also covered. There are chapters that discuss how Java treats arrays and strings. Finally, there are chapters on the math capability of Java ”both the intrinsic functionality that comes with the Java API and a discussion of how to create user -defined math libraries.

Once we have a good understanding of the key elements of the Java language, we are ready to do some serious technical programming. The third part of this book discusses how Java can be applied to such tasks as solving systems of equations, differential equations, integral functions, and Fourier transforms. These chapters not only provide Java source code and real-life model problems, but also delve into the theory behind the solution techniques. This section of the book also includes chapters on developing data curve fits and generic class libraries.

The final part consists of three chapters covering important features you will probably make use of in your technical programming. Chapter 25 discusses the input/output capability of Java. The Java API provides a powerful and versatile I/O functionality for reading and writing both byte and character data. Java also gives you the ability to write GUI front ends to your technical programs. An introduction to how this is done is provided in Chapter 26. Another great feature of Java is that it gives you access to the power of the Internet. The final chapter of this book provides an introduction to how you can turn a program into a web-based application using Java servlets.