| This course ended on December 14, 2011 |
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Hobart and William Smith Colleges Fall 2011. Instructor: David J. Eck (eck@hws.edu) Course Handout: http://math.hws.edu/eck/courses/cpsc124_f11.html Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:10--11:05 AM Room Gulick 206A. Lab: Tursday, 11:55 AM -- 1:20 PM Room Gulick 208 Office Hours, Lansing 313 (If I'm not there, check the lab, Lansing 310.): Monday: 11:15--12:10 Wednesday: 1:30--3:00 Thursday: 10:00--11:30 Friday: 11:15--12:10 TA Hours, Lansing 310: Sunday through Thursday, 7:00--10:00 PM.
| Quizzes and Tests, with Answers | |||
| Quiz 1, Sept. 12 | Quiz 2, Sept. 19 | Quiz 3, Sept. 26 | |
| Test 1, Oct. 3 | Quiz 4, Oct. 17 | Quiz 5, Oct. 24 | |
| Quiz 6, Oct. 31 | Test 2, Nov. 7 | Quiz 7, Dec. 5 | |
Welcome to the course. You should begin reading the textbook, which is available on-line at http://math.hws.edu/javanotes. During the first week of the term, we will go over some of the introductory material in Chapter 1 fairly quickly, and we will start Chapter 2. Although we will not cover all of Chapter 1 in class, you should definitely read the entire chapter.
In the lab this week, you will compile and run your first Java programs, and you will be introduced to the Linux operating system.
As reading for the week, you should read the rest of Chapter 2. We will not cover every topic in this chapter. In particular, the following sections are not required reading: 2.3.3, 2.4.5, and 2.6. (Section 2.6 covers programming environments, including the command line environment that was introduced in lab.)
You will learn about using the non-standard class TextIO, which allows your programs to get input from the user. You'll learn more about standard subruotines and functions, including some that can be used to work with strings. And the lab will introduce some subroutines for drawing pictures.
Reminder: The first quiz will be next Monday.
We will finish up Section 2.5 on Monday, and we will start in on Chapter 3. We will do at least the first two sections. Section 1 introduces two control statements, the if statement and the while statement. Section 2 talks about algorithms, which are definite, step-by-step procedures for carrying out specific tasks. We'll talk about how algorithms can be developed and how they can be expressed in Java.
There will be another quiz next Monday, September 19. It will cover Sections 2.5, 3.1, and 3.2.
This week, we will look at some other control structures: The for loop, the do..while loop, and multi-way if statements. We'll also continue our study of algorithm development. The reading for the week is Chapter 3, Sections 3, 4, and 5.
As usual, there will be a quiz next Monday, September 26. On the Monday after that, there will be a test.
As reading for the week, you should finish Chapter 3. There are some topics in that chapter that we will not do at all (such as anything related to enumerated types). There are some things that you should know about, but that you will not be forced to use in code (such as do..while loops, the continue statement, and switch statements).
The first test will be given in class next Monday, October 3. It will cover Chapters 1, 2, and 3 as well as Labs 1 though 4.
An information sheet is available and will be handed out in class on Wednesday.
There is a test on Monday of this week. (Next week, there is no class on Monday and hence no quiz.)
After the test, we will begin Chapter 4, which covers subroutines. You should read sections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3. For the lab this Thursday, you will write some subroutines, but the main point of the lab will be to introduce the Eclipse IDE.
There in no class on Monday this week, because of Fall Break. Next Monday, October 17, we will return to our custom of having a quiz at the beginning of class.
On Wednesday and Friday, we will continue with Chapter 4: Subroutines. You should read Sections 4.4, 4.5, and 4.6. (However, we will not get to some of that material until next week.)
There is no new programming exercise for this week's lab. You can work on Lab 6 or on Project 2. However, there is a new non-programming assignment: You are to think about ideas for a final project and write short proposals for two of your ideas.
We will finish up Chapter 4 this week. You should read the rest of that chapter. We still have to talk about Section 4.6 and Section 4.7. 4.6 covers the use of subroutines and APIs in program development. It introduces preconditions and postconditions. 4.7&nbps;fills in some details about variables, including scope, named constants, and combining initialization with declaration.
The reading for the week is Chapter 5, Sections 1, 2, and 3. This is the start of object-oriented programming. We will be talking about constructors, instance variables, instance methods, null, pointers, and getters and setters. And we will start talking about object-oriented design.
There is a test coming up next Monday! An information sheet is available.
The reading for the week is Chapter 5, Sections 4, 5, and 6, which continue the study of objects and classes. We will only covert parts of Sections 5 and 6, and those sections will not be on Monday's test. Next week, after the test, we will spend a couple days on arrays, which are covered in the book in Chapter 7.
After the test on Monday, we will take a couple days to cover basic material on arrays. You should read the following sections from Chapter 7: Sections 7.1, 7.2.1, 7.2.4, 7.2.5, 7.5.1, 7.5.2. We will cover additional material from Chapter 7 at the end of the term.
You will use a two-dimensional array in the lab for this week. In addition, you will build a complete GUI program from scratch. The lab is more tutorial than usual. You should read it carefully.
We will be continuing with arrays for the first part of the week. There is no new reading on that topic. After that, we will go back to Chapter 5 to pick up on some of the more advanced features of classes and objects, including subclasses, class hierarchies, abstract classes, interfaces, nested classes, and this and super. The reading on this material includes Chapter 5, Sections 5.5, 5.6.1, 5.7.1, and 5.7.2. We will will continue with this material on Monday, November 21. There is no class or lab on November 23, 24, or 25 because of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving!
The last quiz of the semester will be on Monday of next week.
In the last two weeks of the course, we will be finishing up material from Chapters 6 and 7. This week, it will be Chapter 6. You will find that we have already covered much of that chapter. Ideally, you should read the entire chapter, but here is a guide to the most essential reading about things we have not covered:
For the lab this week, you can work on your final project. Remember that final projects should be finished by the last day of classes. However, they will not actually be collected until the day of the final exam, and you can add some finishing touches, if necessary, in the four days between the end of classes and the exam.
On Monday and Wednesday, we will cover a few more topics from Chapter 7. The reading is Sections 3 and 4 from that chapter. We have already covered some material from these sections, and there are a few things that we will not cover at all. The most important subsections are 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.4.1, 7.4.2, and 7.4.4.
The final exam is on Wednesday, December 14, at 8:30 AM, in our regular classroom. An information sheet is available.