Murach Books

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0 - cOracle 3rd

Just published

Oracle SQL and PL/SQL 

The newly updated third edition of this book makes it easier than ever to teach a course that shows how to use SQL and PL/SQL to work with an Oracle database. It works equally well for beginners who have no coding experience or experienced programmers who need to develop applications that work with an Oracle database. Request your review copy today!

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0 - dPython for Data Science

Just Published

Python for Data Science (2nd Edition)

Teaching Python for data science has never been easier! This book and its instructor’s materials provide everything you need to quickly set up a course, even if your students only have minimal programming experience. With this book as their guide, your students will learn how to use several popular Python libraries to analyze data, create effective visualizations, and build statistical models that make predictions.

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0 - eMMJS

Just Published

Modern JavaScript

This book helps your students learn JavaScript more easily than ever. From the basics to advanced skills, your students will learn the best practices of modern JavaScript. This book is ideal for students without previous programming experience who need detailed explanations, but it also works well for students who already know another language and are ready to move more quickly. Either way, when your students are done with your course, they’ll have the modern JavaScript skills that are in such demand today.

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2 - VitalSource eBooks

Don’t miss our eBooks!

All of our books are available in eBook editions. So you can get exam copies immediately, and your students can have their texts on the first day of class.

Our standard eBook format is VitalSource, which offers Bookshelf apps for both online and offline access. We especially like using Bookshelf offline on a desktop or laptop computer because it lets you display our “paired pages” side by side. This is the format you’ll get when you request an eBook exam copy here.

But our eBooks are also available in RedShelf format, and we work with other eBook providers too. So if you’re looking for a specific format, just let us know!

6 - Programming Books and courseware since 1974

Programming books and courseware since 1974

Today, our books are not only used by developers in Fortune 500 companies, but also by more than 800 universities, colleges, technical institutes, community colleges, and high schools. What’s more, the same book that’s used by a community college or technical institute is often used by a college or university program too.
Sound impossible? Take a few minutes to learn more about us. Then, request a free review copy of one of our books to see for yourself how well they work!

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Buy Murach Books

This is our site for college instructors.
To buy Murach books, please visit our retail site.

Review Our Books for Adoption

This is our site for college instructors. Please use it to review our books and courseware for possible adoption.

What Instructors Say About Our Books

Our students always give feedback on their end-of-course evaluations that Murach textbooks are so well organized and easy to follow, with plenty of code examples, figures, and instructions. They all love Murach’s.”

Roger Fang, CIS Instructor
Arkansas Tech University, Russellville, Arkansas | Read More Testimonials ›

Who uses our books

In the last 3 years, more than 800 universities, colleges, community colleges, technical institutes, proprietary schools, and high schools have adopted our books. Here are a few:

  • University of Texas
  • City College of San Francisco
  • Milwaukee Area Technical College
  • University of Illinois
  • Salt Lake Community College
  • New York University (NYU)
  • Ivy Tech
  • Temple University

View the complete list of adopters

  • UCLA Extension
  • Boston University
  • Wake Tech CC
  • Greenville Technical College
  • Florida State University
  • Metropolitan CC, Omaha
  • North Seattle College
  • University of Colorado
READ MORE

Why students learn more from Murach books

Our paired-pages format lets students read less and learn more

About 15 years ago, we realized that there was something patently wrong with all textbooks, including ours. The problem was that students had to dig out the skill-building information that they needed from pages heavy with text. Then, to review or use that information, they had to dig it out again. That’s when we developed a new presentation method that we now call paired pages.

With this presentation method, all of the subject matter is broken down into manageable chunks, or topics, that can be presented in a two-page spread. In each spread, the right page is a figure that contains the critical syntax, examples, and bulleted guidelines; the left page is text that gives perspective and extra explanation.

One benefit of this format is that it lets students learn faster because they don’t have to read as much. To test that, just compare a topic in one of our books with the same topic in a competing book. You may be surprised at how efficient our treatment is.

The beauty of this format is that it makes it easier for your students to review what they’ve learned; all the details are right there, on the righthand page. That helps them prepare for tests, of course. But it also helps them do the exercises and projects more efficiently because they can easily refresh their memories. And that really helps them learn faster.

One instructor put it this way: “My students really love the format of your books. They like learning about a new skill set on the left-hand page and then immediately being able to put it into action on the right-hand side of the page They feel this type of learning helps them really reinforce the new concepts immediately.”

Our "paired pages" help them work faster in lab

Another benefit of our “paired pages” is that they are the ideal reference format. That helps students work faster and better in lab because they can quickly review how to do something by going to the right-hand page that presents it.

Contrast that with the traditional textbook in which the critical skills are buried in the text. Or, worse, the needed information is buried in a tedious, step-by-step procedure that presents new information that isn’t in the text!

Our exercises provide more practice in less time

The exercises for our books give students a chance to get valuable, hands-on experience without wasting any time. That’s because we provide the starting code. That way, the students don’t have to enter the routine code that they already know (that is, the code that any professional is going to copy from an existing application or template).

In the early chapters, our exercises guide the students through the application of what they’ve just learned. Later, they challenge the students to apply what they’ve learned in new ways. But always, our exercises force the students to practice the skills that they need to build real-world applications. As we see it, that’s the only activity that helps students achieve the most important objectives of a course.

Beyond that, our exercises never introduce skills that weren’t already presented in the chapter. As a result, students don’t get confused by trying to apply skills they haven’t yet been taught. And they won’t have to search through the exercises later on, to find where the information they need is buried.

They master the skills that are needed on the job

All of the books that we sell are not only used for college courses but also by corporate trainers and by IT professionals who use our books for self-instruction. That’s testimony to the fact that our books actually teach the skills that are needed on the job.

That in turn keeps a course interesting and helps motivate students. As one student described it:
“Murach books are great. I began programming in college using other books; however, I didn’t learn much except to finish work and pass exams. When I started using Murach books, my desire to become a real software engineer went up.”

They actually buy our books because of their fair prices

As all students and instructors know, traditional textbook publishers charge outrageously high prices, even though they don’t produce the best textbooks. In contrast, Murach books are always fairly priced...usually around $50.

That means that more students buy the print editions of our books so they get the maximum benefit from our books. Instructors also tell us that many of their students keep our books after the course is over because they know our books will be valuable references on the job.

Why instructors adopt Murach books

Their students learn more and enjoy their courses more

We frequently get emails from instructors like these:

“My students are learning more than they did with the previous book.”

“Several students have asked that we use Murach books for all our courses.”

“My students and I just ‘love’ your books.”

“I was concerned about changing texts initially, but the student feedback on your texts has been amazing. I have had students buy these textbooks who had previously not bought a textbook since first year.”

If you’ve read “Why students learn more from Murach books,” you’ve seen some of the reasons for reactions like these. But briefly, our books present their subjects in a way that gets students doing productive work right away, delivers real-world skills, and gives them confidence that they know what they’re doing. 

Our instructor's materials make it easy to switch to our book

When you review the instructor’s materials for one of our books, you’ll see that they provide everything you need for a turnkey course. That includes:

  • PowerPoint slides for all of the content in the book so it’s easy to review the critical skills
  • Behavioral objectives that describe the critical skills that the students should develop
  • Test banks that test whether students are mastering the concepts and skills
  • Extra exercises and projects that aren’t in the book that can be used for testing whether your students are mastering the skills
  • Solutions for the extra exercises and projects

In short, our instructor’s materials make it easy to switch from the book you’re using to our book. You just select the instructional components that you want to use, and you’re on your way.

Our extra exercises and projects can be used to prove mastery

The end-of-chapter activities in our books include exercises that force the students to apply what they’ve learned in different contexts. The student download for the book includes the partial applications that the exercises start from. It also includes the solutions to the exercises. That way, the students won’t be frustrated and delayed by the trivial mistakes that are common to novices.

In contrast, the instructor’s materials include extra exercises and projects, and only the instructor gets their solutions. These extra exercises are similar to those in the book, but they provide less guidance and some are more challenging.

As a result, our extra exercises and projects can be used to give the students more practice. But they can also be used to test whether the students have mastered the critical skills of a course. And that, of course, is the only true test of a student’s competence.

Their students master the skills that are needed on the job

Unfortunately, many programming textbooks today are so “dumbed down” that they don’t present the skills that are needed on the job. The other extreme is books that are concept heavy, but application light...often with toy applications used for examples.

In contrast, the content for each of our books is selected based on an analysis of the skills needed on the job. To that we add the concepts and theories that underlie those skills. Then, we illustrate the concepts, theories, and skills with complete, real-world applications.

The obvious benefit of this approach is that your students learn useful skills. The less obvious benefit is that it motivates your students because they always see the relationships between the concepts and the real-world applications.

Our books provide consistency from one course to another

In contrast to other books, ours are designed and developed by a small group of writers and editors. As a result, we can and do coordinate the structure and contents of our books so they work together in a curriculum.

This means that you won’t get unnecessary duplication in two or more of our books. This also means that you can be sure that one of our beginning books really does provide all of the prerequisites for one of our advanced books. For instance:

  • Our HTML5, JavaScript, and jQuery books are designed to work seamlessly together in a 2- or 3-course sequence for web page design and development.
  • Our Beginning Java books can be used in a series with our servlets/JSP book to teach students how to develop web applications in Java…or with our Android book to teach mobile programming.
  • Our two C# books (one on core C#, the other on ASP.NET) can be used together to teach students how to develop web applications with ASP.NET and C#.
  • Our SQL books on SQL Server, Oracle, and MySQL can be used in combination with any of our programming language books to build out your students’ database skills.

Murach college books and courseware since 1974

Contact Murach Books

1-800-221-5528

Weekdays, 8 to 4 Pacific Time

murachbooks@murach.com

Buy Murach Books

This is our site for college instructors. To buy Murach books, please visit our retail site.

Review Our Books

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