Case studies and programming examples have been revised to emphasize design before coding so students understand the importance of problem solving.

Flow of control (branching statements and loops) is covered in two chapters instead of one.

The use of methods coverage is increased, and introduced earlier in the text.

New examples have been added that demonstrate why instance variables should be private and how implementation can affect efficiency.

Constructors are introduced earlier.

Coverage of interfaces and polymorphism has been expanded.

New topics are discussed: enumerations, for-each loops, and using the Java Scanner class to read text files.

Recursion is covered before dynamic data structures and generics.

The class ArrayList is introduced instead of the class Vector.

Additional programming projects have been added at the end of each chapter.

Pedagogical features have been revised. In addition to Programming Tips, FAQs, Remembers, and Gotchas, Recaps now summarize important concepts concisely and Asides provide short commentaries on relevant issues.