Why learn GUI programming?
All “normal” programs are GUI based, so this question seems peculiar. It’s only addressed here because of the peculiar situation that some Java textbooks are written without any GUI coverage, and others cover it as a marginal, or optional topic. I’ll try to address why this is that case, and why GUIs should be taught from relatively early. The biggest problem is that many textbooks are simply adaptations of an author’s earlier C++, C, or Pascal books. These authors are no longer active programmers, so have never actually written GUI programs beyond simple textbook samples. Finally, publishers have no motivation to innovate, and don’t want to make changes to the tried-and-true (tired-and-true) formulas of the past. Here are some of the objections I’ve heard from instructors who didn’t want to teach GUIs.
