Computer Science 252
Problem Solving with Java

Spring 2016, The College of Saint Rose

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Instructor and Course Information

Texts

The optional text for the course is Java: An Eventful Approach (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006, ISBN 0-13-142415-7) by Bruce, Danyluk, and Murtagh. This is available from the Saint Rose Bookstore (and elsewhere).

Course News

• Thank you for an enjoyable semester!

Submission Guidelines

Your submissions for lab assignments will include several types of items. Different requirements apply to each, as described below. It is important that you adhere to file format and naming requirements to facilitate grading. Submissions that do not meet these requirements will not be accepted.

Lab Questions

The answers to all "lab questions" for a particular lab should be included within a single plain-text or PDF file named labn.txt or labn.pdf, as appropriate, where n is the lab number. The file should start with your name and the lab number. If you use plain text, your file should be appropriately line-wrapped for easy reading in a window or on a printed page with a width of 80 characters.

Note: for lab questions that ask you to draw a picture or diagram, you have a few options. You may attempt to represent your picture or diagram with plain text, but that is difficult to construct and read. Ideally, you would use a drawing program and submit in your PDF file, but you are also permitted to draw the diagram on paper and submit a scan or photograph, as long as the diagram is legible in that form.

Practice Programs

Your submissions for practice programs are graded primarily on correctness, but you will be required to include your name at the top of the program, and you must use the file name specified. You will normally demonstrate practice programs and submit them electronically, but no printout needs to be submitted.

You are of course encouraged to practice good documentation, formatting, and style for these programs, but the grade will depend only on correctness (and having your name in a properly-named file).

Programming Assignments

These are the most formal submissions and will be graded on design, documentation, style, correctness, and efficiency (where appropriate). A good design will use an appropriate algorithm, data structures, and language constructs to solve the problem. A well-documented program will include a comment at the top of each file that includes your name, the assignment, and a description of the contents of the file. There should also be comments for each constructor or method definition (including a brief description of the method's purpose, its parameters, and return value), each variable or group of related variables, and any section of code whose purpose and/or behavior is not obvious from context or the code itself. Style requirements include appropriate formatting (sufficient and consistent indentation, spacing, and punctuation, wrapping long lines of code), good use of named constants, and meaningful and appropriate names for variables, methods, constants, and parameters. Correctness, of course, requires the expected output be produced for a set of test inputs (which will normally not be provided in advance). Efficiency will be more important in some assignments than others, and requires that the program does not do any unnecessary computation or use any more memory than needed. And, of course, you must use the file name(s) specified. You will normally be required to submit your source code electronically and submit a printout of your program. It would also be helpful, if you have the chance, to demonstrate your program in person.

Related Information and Links

• Style Guide for CSC 252 Programs
• College of Saint Rose links
  • Saint Rose Computer Science
• Java and Objectdraw links
  • The Objectdraw Library
  • Objectdraw and relevant Java API Reference Card
  • Java API documentation
  • A page of RGB codes and their corresponding colors
  • Java download page to install or update Java on your own computer. Important note: you will need a JDK (Java Development Kit) rather than a JRE (Java Runtime Environment) to be able to compile your own programs.
  • BlueJ home page for documentation and installation on your own computer
    • Note: You may follow the steps below or (once you have Java installed) copy a properly-configured BlueJ installation from a USB key I usually bring to class and to my office (yes, this is the easiest and most highly recommended method).
    • To use BlueJ for class assignments, you will also need to get the objectdraw library (objectdrawV1.1.2.jar) - download and save this file but do not try to open it.
    • After putting objectdrawV1.1.2.jar in a reasonable place (like your folder for class work), you need to tell BlueJ where to find it. To do that, start BlueJ. Open the BlueJ menu and select "Preferences". Then select "Libraries". Click the "Add" button. This should open a file browser. Find objectdrawV1.1.2.jar and click "Choose".
    • Another preference that I recommend that you set is on the "Editor" tab. Select "Display line numbers".
    • You should also download the objectdrawinvoker.jar extension available from BlueJ. Instructions on how to install BlueJ extensions are available at the bottom of the BlueJ extensions page. If on a Mac, the easiest way to do this is in a Terminal window (ask for help if you aren't familiar with Terminal).
    • There are further customizations that will allow you to choose a "WindowController" class as a starter when you create a new class. Please bring your laptop to my office or class to get those customizations installed on your computer if you would like to have them.
• Less relevant, but more fun: [XKCD] [Dilbert] [Fox Trot]