Java Tutorial
I've started work on a Java tutorial - worked through the first module and all of the lab work associated with that module. The tutorial supports PC's better than it does Mac's, so I had to install the JDK, NetBeans, and Firefox on two computers here so I can work on the tutorial without displacing other project members.
Comments
progress on Java tutorial
This week I finished all the demos and lab exercises associated with the Java Technology module.
The biggest news is that I worked my way out of the exercise I was stuck on last week by diagramming the class structure. Diagramming is the answer to sorting out what's due to inheritance, what's due to accessibility/scope, which methods are being invoked or overridden and from where, etc. It's a powerful tool and I wish I'd thought of it earlier. The bug showed up fairly early in the diagramming process, and I finished up the Lab 4 exercises. I'm done with exercise 1 of Lab 5 ("Advanced Class Features") and have started on exercise 2. These exercises deal with inheritance, polymorhism, and related concepts at deeper and deeper levels. This is crucial stuff and I'm not comfortable with it yet, but I feel like I've made significant progress.
progress on Java tutorial
This week I finished module 4 "Class Design" and the first of three lab exercises associated with that module. I seem to have gotten bogged down in the second exercise, and can't start on the third till I get the second one to work. As the example gets more complex, it gets harder for me to isolate problems while debugging. This skill alone is important for me to learn, and it's vital to master the content of this module, too. I've sent myself an email with the NetBeans source code and the workbook and labfiles PDF's attached so I can work it out this weekend at home (I'm almost entirely up-to-date on my class assignments). It may even help to put NetBeans on the VirtualBox I had to install on my computer for a class assignment. Then I can store snapshots of different combinations of fixes and/or modifications that I've tried, to make it easier to isolate what does or doesn't work.
re: JT
So, what do you think of the Java tutorials? You are talking about the Sun Academic Initiative tutorials I assume. Which one are you working on now?
Tutorial Progress
Finished module 1 on "Java Technology" last week and spent this week on module 2, "Building Blocks of Java Programming Language." I've finished the first section of module 2, "Identifiers, Keywords, and Types," but am still working on the lab exercises for the "Expressions and Flow Control" section. I'm hung up on the AdvancedLoopProject and will finish that over the weekend. I think it will be easier to keep track of the nested loops after I've taken some time away from it to clear my head.
Had to take a few hours out to learn about bitwise operators (both boolean & shift) as I'd never heard of them before; then returned to the normal study plan. There are now 3 computers equipped to handle the tutorial; they all have Firefox, NetBeans, and Apache Flash. (One is the computer you set up for me this week with Ubuntu and Eclipse). I tried using Dropbox to transfer the NetBeans workbook exercises from one computer to another, but still had to set up the project and class heirarchy all over again; then I could just copy the source code in. (There's one disadvantage of using an IDE that I'd never thought of before). Since the tutorial lab exercises use NetBeans, it will be easier just to use the one dedicated computer for this course. My progress on the tutorial should speed up now; it has taken a lot of time to set up the different computers and transfer files, though that's an important part of my education, too. The only detours I foresee would be if/when I encounter another subject (or subjects) where the tutorial assumes more background than I've got, and I'd have to catch up again.
Tutorial Progress
This week I finished the AdvancedLoopProject, thus finishing module 2 "Expressions & Flow Control;" worked through the entire module (including lab exercises) of #3 "Creating Arrays;" and started on module 4 "Class Design." On Friday, we attended a presentation by Minneapolis public schoolteachers who teach digital photography &/or digital audio &/or digital video. They will be working with Warren on using 3D virtual worlds to teach math, in order to give their (high school) students the math skills they'll need to meet state standards. This is an intriguing use of virtual worlds, and it ties in with the subject of the Boston seminar in April, too.
(Note: The previous entry was from 2/12/10; I just edited it to correct spelling of NetBeans and the date changed).