Introduction

The CST 183 Java Programming course is offered a an Internet-delivered course at Delta College. This page is designed to provide prospective students with basic information about the course and to provide a list of expectations for taking a college-level computer programming course via the Web.

At this time, CST 183 will next offered Fall 2007. Future planning includes CST 183 being offered only one secton per year during the Fall semester.

For any further information, please contact the instructor using the contact information below.

Course Description

Prerequisite: The prerequisite for this course is CST 180 C++ Programming. A solid background in computer programming (C, C++, Pascal, FORTRAN, etc.) is essential to succeed in this course. Experience only with HTML or other basic web tools will not suffice.

Description: Introduces the Java programming language with applications and applets. Emphasizes Java classes and object-oriented programming concepts. Includes control structures, string handling, arrays, graphics, files, and use of Java graphical user interface components. Introduces exception handling, multimedia, and multithreading.

Java is a very powerful emerging programming language. If offers a variety of exciting programming capabilities for developing industrial-strength software applications. However, there are two points you must consider to insure you are successful in this course:

• This is not a World Wide Web course. While Java applets can be created and executed on the Web, Java includes many other deeper level programming concepts that are taught as part of the course. If you are a web page developer, but do not have a solid background with programming languages such as C++, this may not yet be the right course for you.
  
• The time commitment for this course is significant. Not only does the on-line delivery format require time and study discipline, computer science courses by nature require a large time commitment for completing programming assignments.

Course Topics

The following topics will be included as course modules for this course:

1. Java foundations
2. Basic Java applications
3. Java applets
4. Control structures ( conditional statements)
5. Control structures ( repetition statements)
6. Methods
7. Arrays
8. Classes and object-based programming
9. Object-oriented programming
10. String handling
11. Graphics
12. Basic graphical user interfaces
13. Advanced graphical user interfaces
14. Exception-handling
15. Special topics:
    • Multithreading
    • Java multimedia (images, URLs, audio, and animation)
    • Files and streams

Expectations for an On-line Course

Students who register for the on-line version of CST 183 will be taking a complete college course. It is not a workshop, not a self-paced computer training module, and not a correspondence course. There will be required reading and study assignments and Java programming exercises at regular intervals. The "lecture" component of this course will include notes and Java code examples provided via web pages. To see if your are ready for an on-line course, take the following self quiz that will try to answer the question:

Students planning to take this course should plan adequate time for studying material delivered on-line, for reading assignments, and for programming. Computer programming courses typically require a significant amount of time coding, debugging, and testing program code. There will be no defined "class time" for the course, but instead it will consist of weekly time frames and deadlines for course work and activities. Programs and materials will be submitted to the instructor via e-mail . Graded programs will also be returned using e-mail.

Written tests will be included as one of several methods for assessing learning. These can be taken at the Delta College Testing Center on the College main campus. If travel to Delta is prohibitive, a "secure" testing site or individual proctor can be arranged by working with the instructor.

For students registered for the course, the initial course orientation will be delivered via the Web. The orientation introduces the instructor, the secure course web page, and general guidelines and plans for taking an on-line computer science course.

Technical Requirements

Students enrolled in this course should have access to a computer with a web browser, electronic mail, and space to install a Java compiler.

The basic technical skills required for this course include the abilities to:

• Send and receive electronic mail as well as manage an e-mail account
• Send e-mail with file attachments
• Use a web browser to navigate a web site
• Install applications on a computer
• Copy/paste text from one application to another

In addition, you should be a person that has the ability to "figure it out" relative to computing technology. If you require a specific cookbook approach to a computing skill, you will find this course difficult. Java itself requires flexibility and perhaps some trial-and-error work to get things going. Learning Java via an on-line course requires that much more.

Finally, you must have access to a Java compiler and a Java runtime environment in order to do your work for this course. A basic free compiler can be downloaded and installed from the Internet, or students can choose to purchase one of several Java interactive development environment software packages on the market. Options for Java development tools are discussed in course orientation after classes commence.