Think Java, Second Edition

Think Java is an introduction to computer science and programming intended for people with little or no experience. The goal is to help students learn to design and implement object-oriented solutions to non-trivial problems.

This book is free to read online and available for purchase in print and electronic formats.

Are you using this book in a class? We'd like to know about it! Please consider filling out this short survey.

Reading the Book

Free HTML Version: Read online at GitHub Pages

Free PDF: Download from GitHub (canonical). Stable mirror: greenteapress.com/thinkjava7/thinkjava2.pdf.

Purchase Options (affiliate links):

• Bookshop.org - Support independent bookstores
• Amazon - Kindle and paperback editions

Building from Source

Note: Most readers won't need to build from source. The free HTML version is available online.

Prerequisites

• Quarto (required for make html; install separately, not via conda)
• Python 3.12 for conversion scripts — use the conda env below
• LaTeX distribution (texlive-latex-extra, texlive-fonts-recommended on Linux) for PDF

Conda environment

make create_environment   # or: mamba env create -f environment.yml
conda activate ThinkJava2

Update later with make update_environment. Remove with make delete_environment.

No JDK is required for the interactive HTML book: java-runner runs entirely in the browser.

Build Commands

# HTML version (Quarto) — primary interactive book path
make html

# PDF version (LaTeX) — canonical PDF for GitHub + GTP
make pdf

# Legacy HTML versions
make hevea    # static HTML
make trinket  # interactive version (Trinket.io; being replaced by java-runner)

Publishing the PDF

Same pattern as ThinkDSP: GitHub is canonical; Green Tea Press keeps old URLs in sync.

make pdf                 # build thinkjava2.pdf
make distrib             # confirm the PDF is ready to commit
git add thinkjava2.pdf && git commit && git push

# Optional: mirror to greenteapress.com/thinkjava7/ (requires ~/.ssh/config Host gtp)
make publish-gtp-dry
make publish-gtp

publish-gtp rsyncs only the PDF (no --delete, no HeVeA HTML). HTML for readers is Quarto on GitHub Pages.

Repository Structure

ThinkJava2/
├── quarto/              # Quarto book project
│   ├── _quarto.yml      # Book configuration
│   ├── split_book.py    # LaTeX to QMD converter
│   ├── convert.py       # LaTeX command converter
│   └── custom.css       # Custom styling
├── book/                # Generated Quarto output
├── code/                # Example Java programs
├── figs/                # Source figures (xfig, dia)
├── ch*.tex             # Chapter source files
├── app*.tex            # Appendix source files
├── thinkjava2.tex      # Main LaTeX file
└── Makefile            # Build automation

License

Copyright (c) 2020 Allen B. Downey and Chris Mayfield.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. See LICENSE for details.