This updated guide supports an innovative approach to fundamental programming concepts. The authors use program visualization to create an easy relationship between program construct and the animation action in a 3D world. For consistency with Java, C++, and other commonly used languages, "questions" are now "functions." Save and reload bugs have been fixed. Fonts can be scaled larger or smaller. High contrast mode is available for projection in the classroom. A useful how-to guide for programmers interested in learning Alice.
I finished the book today! I didn't read the exercises or questions and skimmed the appendix, but I'm done with the reading!
Yay!
However, I have another project to do so I'll be re-reading sections and there's an exam next week. Still, done!
I did like how this book was laid out. The examples in the text were useful, even if I didn't do all of them. The language was very layman, which made me happy. The important words/terms were a bit hard to understand. I do better when a textbook uses the word in a sentence normally and then writes down the exact definition on the side. (Love it when psych and science textbooks do that!) It would help with the reading quizzes in my class. I also liked they didn't make their programs perfect the first time and wrote them like how most beginner's would (or at least I would) and showed bugs in them and pointed out what was wrong.
It's a good book to learn the basic concepts with, plus the software is free. If you really like Alice, you can even make games with this. I liked all the Alice in Wonderland references and visuals. Without the visuals, I probably would've been confused all the time. :)