COLLEGE CATALOG DESCRIPTION :

OBJECTIVES:

After completing this course, the student should be able to:
• Use an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), such as PDE ("Processing Development environment").
• Develop new, interactive applications using a programming language, such as Processing.
• Understand the Object-Oriented / Event-Driven approach to programming.
• Create user-defined "methods" and "event-handlers".
• Assign values to object properties and variables (local or form-level).
• Understand declarations, expression evaluation, scope, types, etc.
• Understand structured programming, and be able to write control statements for selection, looping, etc.

STUDENT REQUIREMENTS:

TEXTBOOK:



"Learning Processing           -- A Beginner's Guide to Programming           Images, Animation, and Interaction" by Daniel Schiffman (Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) [Paperback]; ISBN: 978-0-12-373602-4

READ THIS FIRST:
This introductory discussion may also be useful to the student.




THE PROCESSING.ORG WEBSITE:



The Processing.org website contains documentation and other information about the Processing language. To do assignments using other computers, it may be necessary to download and install the Processing Development Environment (PDE)


READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Each student is responsible for all material taught or assigned by the instructor. The student is expected to complete all assigned reading, prior to class meetings.

COMPUTER & INTERNET ACCESS:

Between classes, the student should have computer access to the internet, to obtain assignments, submit homeworks and projects, etc.   (NOTE:   If you have ANY difficulty at all in obtaining internet access between classes please see the instructor after class to remedy this difficulty.)

Although computer lab time may be scheduled each week during class time, students should be aware that additional lab time outside of class will be necessary to complete the requirements of this course. Students should plan to spend an additional 3 to 6 hours per week using other computers, such as those in the Caumsett-211 computer lab.



MIS-USE OF CLASSROOM COMPUTER EQUIPMENT :

All computer equipment in classrooms and laboratories is the property of the college, and NOT intended for computer activites unrelated to the college curriculum (such as games, entertainment, "instant messager", "surfing the web", etc.)

Use of classroom computers for unrelated activities may result in loss of privileges and other disciplinary action (including dis-enrollment).

CODING STANDARDS & CODE REVIEWS:

This is a course in computer progamming, i.e. the development of software "code" that has two audiences:

1. computers, which must compile and execute the code, and
2. human programmers, who must read and understand the code (e.g. in order to debug or modify it).

Therefore, good programming practice depends not only upon how the computer processes the code, but also upon the ability of other programmers to read and understand the code (perhaps in order to debug or modify it).

For coding assignments, grading will be based not only on whether the code compiles correctly and performs the assigned tasks, but also upon its organization, clarity, and -- most of all -- "readability". These and other aspects of programming practices, as well as adherance to "coding standards" (to ensure testability, maintainability, etc.) will be introduced and discussed in the textbook and in class.

"Any fool can write code that a computer can understand.    Good programmers write code that humans can understand."

CODE REVIEWS:

One technique that is very effective in promting good software is the "code review" wherein several programmers examine and critique software code that is being developed by some or all of them. During this process, while there may be criticism of specific lines of code, it must always be "constructive criticism" and never employed to blame or disparage the author(s) of the code under review.

Remember that computer source code is not some sort of "private communication" only with the computer, kept secret from others. Instead, source code should be thought of as intended for "publication", meant for the eyes of others of humans! In a code review, colleagues often examine a "rough draft" or a "work in progress" in order to help with problems, make suggestions, etc. -- and perhaps also to learn something new.