Course Outline: Introduction to JAVA for Begininning Programmers
(5 Days) with Hands-On Labs
Learning Objectives
Learn the basic principles of object oriented programming
Learn how to develop, specify and verify algorithms
Learn the essentials of the Java programming language
Gain an understanding of the fundamental concepts of computers required for programming
Acquire the skills needed to design, code and debug computer programs in the Java language
This course description should be used to determine whether the course is appropriate for you based on your current skill and technical training needs. Technical information is provided on the intended audience, course prerequisites, and covered topics. Course content, prices, and availability are subject to change without notice.
Course Audience
The course is designed as the first programming course for students beginning to prepare for a career in computer programming, with a focus on modern programming technologies. The language Java is used because of its growing importance in modern application development.
Course Description
This course is an introduction to object oriented programming using the Java language. The core syntax of Java is very similar to C and C++, so the student will receive a good grounding for subsequent study of these languages as well. This course introduces object oriented concepts very early, and Java is developed in a way that leverages its object orientation. A major case study, the Electronic Commerce Gameää, is used to illustrate object oriented programming techniques, including the initial analysis and design.
An important thrust of this course is to teach programming from an object oriented perspective. It is often difficult for programmers trained originally in a procedural language to start “thinking in objects”. This course introduces object oriented concepts very early, and Java is developed in a way that leverages its object orientation. A major case study is used to illustrate object oriented programming techniques, including the initial analysis and design.
The course includes a preliminary chapter that introduces computers from the perspective of programming, covering the essentials of the von Neumann computer architecture and stored programs. The special nature of Java is explored. The course then introduces simple hands-on programming using Java to do simple input, computation and output. The Java data types are covered, and simple if tests and loops are covered. At this point the object oriented features of Java are introduced, and all the remaining treatment of Java follows an object oriented perspective. The course shows how to develop algorithms, present them as flowcharts or pseudocode, and to verify them using handtracing. Algorithms are always implemented as methods of Java classes. There are many programming examples and exercises. The course can be run on any Java development environment.
Prerequisites
Good general problem solving skills and user experience on a PC.
