Computer Science 202
Introduction to Programming

Fall 2013, The College of Saint Rose

Home     Syllabus     Schedule     Examples     Style Guide

Agenda

• Welcome to Computer Science 202!
• Why take this course?
• Pre-course evaulation
• Syllabus and administrative details
• SubmissionBox setup

  We will be using a system called "SubmissionBox," developed by software engineering students here at Saint Rose, for the submission of most of your work this semester. We'll start by making sure everyone can log in and submit a test assignment before we move on to the first in-class exercise.

  After you each get a chance to set a password, we will work together through the submission procedure.

• In-class Exercise 1 - (5 lecture assignment points) due before the end of class.

  Before you leave class today, we will make sure everyone can run a Java program in the BlueJ development environment that we will be using all semester. We will work together through this exercise. It is important to keep up - ask if you are having trouble at any step. For today, everyone should use one of the lab computers. If you would like to use your own computer later, we will see soon how to set that up.

  Here is the outline of our procedure:

  1. Create a folder where you will store your work for this course. It is essential that you choose a location that is on your network storage space (the "H" drive) so it will be available on any computer in the lab (and in fact, on computers in labs all over campus). I suggest calling your folder something like "CS202" without any spaces.
  2. Launch BlueJ by clicking its icon on the desktop. A mostly blank window, called the project window, with some greyed out buttons, should appear.
  3. From the "Project" menu, choose "New Project". In the window that pops up, navigate to the folder you created above, then enter "InClass1", again with no spaces in the "File" box, then click "Create". You should now see an icon in your BlueJ window that looks like a sheet of lined paper, and the buttons on the left side should now be active.
  4. Click the "New Class..." button. In the "Class Name" field, enter "HelloWorld", again with no spaces, and make sure that the "Class Type" is selected as "WindowController Class", then click "Ok". You should now see another icon in your project window labeled "HelloWorld" and with some diagonal lines across it.
  5. Double-click on the new "HelloWorld" icon. This should bring up an editor window with the skeleton of a program that we will use as a starting point. You should see text displayed in a few colors and some of it within shaded boxes. We will learn all about what's going on there as we go forward.
  6. Click the "Compile" button at the top of the editor window. If all goes well, you should see a message at the bottom of the editor window: "Class compiled - no syntax errors".
  7. Now, go back to the project window. The "HelloWorld" icon should no longer have the diagonal lines across it. And now we're ready to run the program. Right-click on the "HelloWorld" icon, which should bring up a menu. The last item in that menu is what you want: "Run Controller". Choose this. Two things should happen: a new red icon should appear at the bottom of the project window, and a brand new window should appear, mostly if not completely blank and white. This new window is one we will refer to as the canvas. Congratulations, you have run a Java program, albeit an incredibly boring and useless one. Close the canvas window when you are done admiring it.
  8. To make our program slightly more interesting, we are going to make it display a message on the canvas. Go back to the editor window, the one with the program text. On the blank line between the { and }, type the following line, exactly as you see it here, including all spacing and punctuation:

         new Text("Hello, world!", 100, 100, canvas);
     

  9. Now hit the "Compile" button again on the editor window, and choose "Run Controller" again from the popup menu on the "HelloWorld" icon on the project window. The canvas that comes up should now have a message displayed.
  10. Now, go back to the editor window and change the paragraph at the top to a message that briefly describes what you just did (a sentence or two is sufficient here), and replace the "(your name)" after the @author with your name. Re-compile (the "Compile" button) and re-run (the "Run Controller" menu item) the program to make sure you didn't break anything.
  11. Finally, to make sure your program looks pretty, go back to the editor window and choose "Auto-layout" from the "Edit" menu. This will indent all of your code nicely (more on this later). Re-compile and re-run one last time to make sure everything still works.

  Please submit only the file HelloWorld.java in Submission Box under "InClass1" before you leave class.

Lecture 1 Assignment

Due at the start of class, Thursday, August 29.

Please submit answers to these questions in Submission Box under "LA1" by the start of our next class. We will discuss these questions at the start of class, so no late submissions are accepted.

1. I would like to get a better sense of everyone's backgrounds coming in. Please answer each of the following. (4 points)
   • What is your name, year, and major?
   • If you are not already one, are you considering a major or a minor in CS or IT?
   • Have you taken any other computer science, either before or at Saint Rose?
   • Do you have any programming experience? If so, which programming languages have you used and how complex were the programs you developed?
   • What was your high school and home town?
   • What is your favorite restaurant in your home town and what should I order there?
   • What types of computers (e.g., PC running Windows, Mac) have you used?
   • If you plan to use computers other than those in Saint Rose labs for course work, what type of computer do you plan to use?
2. In an effort to get to know you and to make sure you know how to find me, please stop by my office (Albertus Hall 400-2) and introduce yourself as a Computer Science 202 student (some time this week). (3 points)

Examples

Late penalty graph: