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Work out your logic on paper

Textbook Overview

(PDF of introductory material and table of contents)

A Web-Based Introduction to Programming provides a step-by-step, hands-on introduction to the logic and design of computer programs. The book takes a Web programming approach to teach fundamental principles and procedures: the software development life cycle; interfaces and markup; algorithm development; standard coding syntax; variables and assignments; arithmetic expressions, boolean expressions; simple and nested selection structures; count-controlled and event-controlled repetition structures; simple file processing; testing and debugging; arrays; and program modularity (focusing on functions with a brief introduction to objects). The book also introduces emerging trends, tools and technologies.

Students learn to analyze requirements, design algorithms, and code solutions in the form of small Web applications using the HTML and PHP languages. They are ready to develop working Web applications in minutes simply by unzipping a file that installs a standalone Web server on their portable drive. There is no need for network connectivity or Internet access. Instructors will find that the approach is very popular with students who appreciate the hands-on work and thoroughly enjoy creating Web-based programs.

Each new concept is introduced simply and coherently, using real-world context, minimal jargon, and complete code samples. The material is easy to follow and designed for individualized, self-paced learning (especially relevant for online courses). Every chapter contains quizzes, as well "fixit", "modify", and "complete code" exercises.

You may find this book valuable if you are:

A college instructor
This is primarily designed as an effective textbook for teaching Introduction to Programming, Introduction to Program Logic and Design, or Introduction to Web programming courses. The book uses hands-on coding activities to teach key concepts and support active learning, but will not overwhelm your beginning students with the level of syntactical detail found in standard programming languages textbooks. The Web site provides extensive teaching resources.
A Web professional new to programming
This book may serve you if you are a Web developer, technical communicator, information specialist, multi-media expert or graphic artist who needs a gentle introduction to programming as your information content becomes increasingly dynamic.
A hobbyist
The material in this book will serve anyone wishing to learn programming at home, whether to consider a software-related career, create software for your children, or develop useful applications in support of a home business or hobby, or for the pure joy of learning.

Note that this book is NOT intended to teach the HTML or PHP languages in comprehensive detail. The goal is to introduc fundamental concepts in programming in a manner that is both engaging and relevant to a broad audience. The approach works well to prepare students for subsequent courses or training in these or other common languages such as C++, Java, VB.NET or Python.