This book is written as a text book, and isn't really for total beginners to programming mainly because of the way its written. However it does tell you everything you need to know, if you were new to programming. I started doing my BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners (software development) in September this year, and I've found the book very useful. I'm covering things in a different structure to how the book is written but it does help understand different concepts very well. There are lots of different programs throughout the book as examples, which are useful.