W6 Grading

Week 6 grades were assigned as following:
Normal work: 5 points
Extra effort in more changes and more advanced programming: 6points
Outstanding job in terms of sufficient complexity and attempt to fit the project: 7 points
As a result almost all got 5 points by doing small changes to the original code (or even simplifying it)
One person got 6 (for somewhat better than average effort), and nobody has 7.
This is a bit disappointing since the assignment was very simple but the possibilities are rich. As I said before, those who want an A-level grade should demonstrate an extra effort since the minimum passing requirements for many tasks are intentionally simplified allowing all to have some working code, but for the tasks requiring to make changes to the existing code or try to apply the idea of the Calendar – dependency might be taken much further. The more efforts you put into work – the better you will learn Java as well as mastery of using simple Java tools for complex results.
But since you are in the curve – I guess nobody suffers much from simple work… until some students will start putting more efforts into work, which (with the end of the semester approaching) they will.

W4 Results

Week 4gave you a chance to move from pictures to normal interfaces. Yes, it was a lot of work but we have to move at a speed allowing to acquire the necessary skills for the real workplace programming. Week 5 will be easier allowing understanding the interface better and thinking your projects over again not to waste the semester effort for something which is too trivial or what you cannot possibly complete.
The grades for week 4 reflected some deductions. T4.1 used deductions for trivial repetition of the already existing textbook page/code. T4.2 had a requirement of using ALL Swing controls from chapter 4 and the deductions were made for not doing it. Incomplete projects without proper description also led to the point deduction. The discipline of doing all the tasks and deduction punishment is necessary, first of all, for you. If you start running behind the schedule of learning than the amount of accumulated work toward the end of the semester will be so high that you will not be able to complete the course. But if to do every week all the tasks on the proper level - then the increments are not that big and the course will feel much easier.

Appletviewer differences

This week you will polish your project layout. I want you to be aware of the fact that although appletviewer is a convenient tool for development it is works very differently than a browser. When you are fine-tuning your interface - it might be good to check it in a real browser. Just double-click on your html file and it will start a page automatically invoking the applet.

Nesting Layouts

Also pay attention to the possibility of setting one layout inside another (see Example 5-6). So it is possible to use other layouts (like GridLayout) for better component positioning inside the FlowLayout used in the central part of the Welcome page.

I use this post to repeat again the need to start doing the Java home work early leaving time for understanding, experimenting, and making it work! You will definitely need some experimenting with simpler pieces of code to understand how it works.

If you start too late and will think that you can do it in 1 hour - you are wrong. The college requires 9 hours of work per week for all courses... In programming you might get lucky and do it faster but don't bet on it.

Adding Swing components

The task for this week does not allow making changes by just looking at the example code. You actually need to read and understand chapter 4 and 5!
In order for any Swing component to appear on any panel you need to define the component (like JButton newone;) which says that the component with system name “newone” will be of a data type Jbutton. You also need to actually instantiate this component = create a space in the memory and label it “newone” for future references by issuing command:

newone = new JButton( "success" );

This key word “new” is what actually creates a physical instance in the memory of a theoretically defined JButton newone. See page 71 for examples (read the book or you will be lost soon).

Once you have your button (or any other Swing component) in physical existence (instantiated) – the next step is placing it on the proper panel. In a simplified example for the Central part of the Welcome page (welcomePanel) it might look like:

welcomePanel.add( one );

I am leaving the tweaking of the better positioning for your exploration. But if, for example, you want to put a button after welcome message then you put all three mentioned above statements after the statement:

welcomePanel.add( welcomeMsg );

which adds welcomeMsg to the Panel. It will look as following:

welcomePanel.add( welcomeMsg );
JButton newone; // defining the button
newone = new JButton( "success" ); //instantiating the button
welcomePanel.add( one ); //adding button

W2 Results

W2 applet programming went very well. Everybody did a great job and I consider that at this point you all are familiar with the working environment and the way to develop, test, and post your results. That was the goal of w1 and w2.

Quiz was a different story. It was very simple for the first quiz and the goal was to show that you need to really read and deeply understand (also remember) the main java tools and methods used in every chapter. Good preparation really pays. Since the group is strong – looks like the main grade variance will be on quizzes (and some difficult tasks later).
Also want to remind you that you should daily read your mail and news forum. Excuses that you didn’t read them and missed some important announcement will not be accepted.

One more advice – read Q&A section even if you didn’t post a problem – since most likely someone else did and the solution has been explained – I noticed new questions were appearing on topics explained in Q&A forums.
Some of you are still trying to make the html file name same as your applet – it is not necessary.

Take week 3 very seriously. Despite a very simplistic explanation of the methods and variables in the book – the topic is verrr-ry important. Additionally read the following material on methods: http://www.otherwise.com/Lessons/MethodsCreationAndUse.html
or/and http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/arguments.html

Java language, finally...

In weeks 1 and 2 you learned and tested basic Java applet environment, settings, and principles. Now in week 3 you can start learning the Java language itself in the same interactive environment. Every language has several main parts:
• Variables, Methods (as mechanisms of passing variables and constants among the parts of the overall software project – “plumbing”), and Data Types;
• Computational flow controls (conditionals and loops, as well as threads on macro level)
• Classes
• Advanced data structures

Variables and Methods will be the topic of week 3. Pay special attention to methods since they can dramatically simplify your programming work if being properly understood and used.

Commentary on W2 grading and problems is coming soon…