Table Of ContentAdvance Praise for Head First Programming
“Head First Programming does a great job teaching programming using an iterative process. Add a little,
explain a little, make the program a little better. This is how programming works in the real world
and Head First Programming makes use of that in a teaching forum. I recommend this book to anyone
who wants to start dabbling in programming but doesn’t know where to start. I’d also recommend this
book to anyone not necessarily new to programming, but curious about Python. It’s a great intro to
programming in general and programming Python specifically.”
— J eremy Jones, Coauthor of Python for Unix and Linux System Administration
“David Griffiths and Paul Barry have crafted the latest gem in the Head First series. Do you use a
computer, but are tired of always using someone else’s software? Is there something you wish your
computer would do but wasn’t programmed for? In Head First Programming, you’ll learn how to write
code and make your computer do things your way.”
— B ill Mietelski, Software Engineer
“Head First Programming provides a unique approach to a complex subject. The early chapters make
excellent use of metaphors to introduce basic programming concepts used as a foundation for the rest
of the book. This book has everything, from web development to graphical user interfaces and game
programming.”
— D oug Hellmann, Senior Software Engineer, Racemi
“A good introduction to programming using one of the best languages around, Head First Programming
uses a unique combination of visuals, puzzles, and exercises to teach programming in a way that is
approachable and fun.”
— T ed Leung, Principal Software Engineer, Sun Microsystems
Praise for other Head First books
“Kathy and Bert’s Head First Java transforms the printed page into the closest thing to a GUI you’ve ever
seen. In a wry, hip manner, the authors make learning Java an engaging ‘what’re they gonna do next?’
experience.”
— W arren Keuffel, Software Development Magazine
“Beyond the engaging style that drags you forward from know-nothing into exalted Java warrior status, Head
First Java covers a huge amount of practical matters that other texts leave as the dreaded ‘exercise for the
reader....’ It’s clever, wry, hip and practical—there aren’t a lot of textbooks that can make that claim and live
up to it while also teaching you about object serialization and network launch protocols.”
— D r. Dan Russell, Director of User Sciences and Experience Research
IBM Almaden Research Center (and teaches Artifcial Intelligence at
Stanford University)
“It’s fast, irreverent, fun, and engaging. Be careful—you might actually learn something!”
— K en Arnold, former Senior Engineer at Sun Microsystems
Coauthor (with James Gosling, creator of Java), The Java Programming
Language
“I feel like a thousand pounds of books have just been lifted off of my head.”
— W ard Cunningham, inventor of the Wiki and founder of the Hillside Group
“Just the right tone for the geeked-out, casual-cool guru coder in all of us. The right reference for practi-
cal development strategies—gets my brain going without having to slog through a bunch of tired, stale
professor- speak.”
— T ravis Kalanick, Founder of Scour and Red Swoosh
Member of the MIT TR100
“There are books you buy, books you keep, books you keep on your desk, and thanks to O’Reilly and the
Head First crew, there is the penultimate category, Head First books. They’re the ones that are dog-eared,
mangled, and carried everywhere. Head First SQL is at the top of my stack. Heck, even the PDF I have
for review is tattered and torn.”
— B ill Sawyer, ATG Curriculum Manager, Oracle
“This book’s admirable clarity, humor and substantial doses of clever make it the sort of book that helps
even non-programmers think well about problem-solving.”
— C ory Doctorow, co-editor of Boing Boing
Author, Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
and Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town
Praise for other Head First books
“I received the book yesterday and started to read it... and I couldn’t stop. This is definitely très ‘cool.’ It
is fun, but they cover a lot of ground and they are right to the point. I’m really impressed.”
— E rich Gamma, IBM Distinguished Engineer, and co-author of Design Patterns
“One of the funniest and smartest books on software design I’ve ever read.”
— A aron LaBerge, VP Technology, ESPN.com
“What used to be a long trial and error learning process has now been reduced neatly into an engaging
paperback.”
— M ike Davidson, CEO, Newsvine, Inc.
“Elegant design is at the core of every chapter here, each concept conveyed with equal doses of
pragmatism and wit.”
— K en Goldstein, Executive Vice President, Disney Online
“I ♥ Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML—it teaches you everything you need to learn in a ‘fun coated’
format.”
— S ally Applin, UI Designer and Artist
“Usually when reading through a book or article on design patterns, I’d have to occasionally stick myself
in the eye with something just to make sure I was paying attention. Not with this book. Odd as it may
sound, this book makes learning about design patterns fun.
“While other books on design patterns are saying ‘Buehler… Buehler… Buehler…’ this book is on the
float belting out ‘Shake it up, baby!’”
— E ric Wuehler
“I literally love this book. In fact, I kissed this book in front of my wife.”
— S atish Kumar
Other related books from O’Reilly
Learning Python
Programming Python
Python Cookbook
Other books in O’Reilly’s Head First series
TM
Head First Java
Head First Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (OOA&D)
Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML
Head First Design Patterns
Head First Data Analysis
Head First Servlets and JSP
Head First EJB
Head First PMP
Head First SQL
Head First Software Development
Head First JavaScript
Head First Ajax
Head First Physics
Head First Statistics
Head First Rails
Head First PHP & MySQL
Head First Algebra
Head First Web Design
Head First Programming
Wouldn‛t it be dreamy if
there were an introductory
programming book that didn‛t
make you wish you were anywhere
other than stuck in front of your
computer writing code? I guess it‛s
just a fantasy...
Paul Barry
David Griffths
Beijing • Cambridge • Farnham • Kln • Sebastopol • Taipei • Tokyo
Head First Programming
by Paul Barry and David Griffiths
Copyright © 2009 O’Reilly Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O’Reilly Media books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are
also available for most titles (safari.oreilly.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales
department: (800) 998-9938 or
We dedicate this book to the first person who looked at a computer
and then asked the question, “I wonder how I make it do this... ?”
And to those that made programming complex enough that people
need a book like ours to learn it.
David: To Dawn. The smartest person I know.
Paul: This one’s dedicated to my father, Jim Barry, who, 25 years
ago—when I needed a push—pushed me toward computing. That
was a good push.
the authors
Authors of Head First Programming
Paul Barry recently worked out that he has David Griffiths began programming at age 12,
been programming for close to a quarter century, a when he saw a documentary on the work of Seymour
fact that came as a bit of a shock. In that time, Paul Papert. At age 15, he wrote an implementation of
has programmed in lots of different programming Papert’s computer language LOGO. After studying
languages, lived and worked in two countries on two Pure Mathematics at University, he began writing code
continents, got married, had three kids (well... his wife for computers and magazine articles for humans. He’s
Deirdre actually had them, but Paul did play his part), worked as an agile coach, a developer, and a garage
completed a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Computing, written attendant, but not in that order. He can write code in
two other books, written a bunch of technical articles over 10 languages and prose in just one, and when not
for Linux Journal, and managed not to lose his hair... a writing, coding, or coaching, he spends much of his
situation that, sadly, may in fact be changing. spare time travelling with his lovely wife—and fellow
Head First author—Dawn.
When Paul first saw Head First HTML with CSS &
XHTML, he loved it so much he knew immediately that Before writing Head First Programming, he wrote another
the Head First approach would be a great way to teach book called Head First Rails, which is an excellent read
programming. He is only too delighted, together with and would make a thoughtful gift for any close friend or
David, to create this book in an attempt to prove his family member.
hunch correct.
You can follow him on Twitter at:
Paul’s day job is working as a lecturer at The Institute
http://twitter.com/dgriffiths
of Technology, Carlow in Ireland. As part of the
Department of Computing & Networking, Paul gets
to spend his day exploring, learning, and teaching
cool programming technologies, which is his idea of
fun (and further proof that Paul probably needs to get
out more). Paul hopes his students think the stuff he
teaches is fun, too.
viii
Paul Barry
David Griffiths
