ANNOUNCEMENTS

The following are in reverse chronological order.

Thu Dec 31 13:18:43 EST 2009

Semester letter grades have been posted in the averages.txt file.

Fri Dec 18 09:27:03 EST 2009

The departmental secretary can get your USB drive for you from my office.

Tue Dec 15 13:38:41 EST 2009

I have copied your final exam Alice worlds off of your USB drives so they are available for pickup at my office today until about 4:40pm when I have to leave to give a final exam. They will also be available at my office after that exam around 7pm for maybe half an hour or so. On Wednesday, they will be available from around noon until 5pm or so. If I am not in my office, check Dewey Lounge on the first floor of Robinson building. On Thursday, they will be available from mid-morning until around 2:35pm when I have to leave to give a final exam. They will also be available at my office after that exam around 5pm for maybe half an hour or so.

Mon Dec 14 12:07:48 EST 2009

Seating arrangement for the final exam, Tuesday, Decemebr 15, 2009. Row 1 is along the outside wall next to the window.

row 1: Erik K, Nancy, Caitlin, Jack
row 2: Kim, Alex S, Stephanie M, Joe
row 3: Jackie, Drew, Amanda
row 4: Lydia, Stephanie G, Alex C
row 5: John, Kristyn, Erik L, Megan
row 6: Steve, Sarah, Gina, Jason
row 7: Ariele, Nicole, Mike

Fri Dec 11 14:39:57 EST 2009

Following the suggestion of a class member (you know who you are), the first 90 minutes of the final exam period will be closed text book, closed other books, closed Internet, closed notes, closed Web pages, closed old programs, closed laptop, closed cell phone, closed old exams, closed neighbor, etc. During those 90 minutes, you will work on the written part and the practical part. At the end of the 90 minutes, you will turn in the written part and have the remaining 30 minutes of the final exam period to work on the practical part open book (our Alice text book). It will still be closed other books, closed Internet, closed notes, closed Web pages, closed old programs, closed laptop, closed cell phone, closed neighbor, etc., though.

Fri Dec 4 18:01:36 EST 2009

On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, we will go over one of many solutions to Exam 5, Export Code for Printing, and we will start looking at Chapter 5 of the text book.

Fri Dec 4 11:36:29 EST 2009

Chapter 5 on lists and arrays is hard but compared to that, events (Chapter 6) are easy. While reading Chapter 6, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• clicking Play triggers ``when the world starts'' event that has world.my first method as its event handler
• many other events involving the mouse and keyboard (table page 176)
• example of handling mouse click events, ``when the mouse is clicked on something,'' MagicalDoors.a2w
• example of handling key presses, ``while a key is pressed,'' HelicopterFlightSimulator.a2w
• 3-D text example, HelicopterFlightSimulator.a2w
• scene transitional effects for the camera, TestTransitions.a2w

Thu Dec 3 07:26:51 EST 2009

Information on the accelerated BS and MS in CS is available at http://www.rowan.edu/colleges/las/departments/computerscience/acad/ComputerScienceRowanUniversity1.htm.

Wed Dec 2 17:23:42 EST 2009

Seating arrangement for Thursday, Decemebr 3, 2009. Row 1 is along the outside wall next to the window.

row 1: Erik K, Nancy, Caitlin, Jack
row 2: Kim, Alex S, Stephanie M, Joe
row 3: Jackie, Drew, Amanda
row 4: Lydia, Stephanie G, Alex C
row 5: John, Kristyn, Erik L, Megan
row 6: Steve, Sarah, Gina, Jason
row 7: Ariele, Nicole, Mike

Tue Dec 1 08:52:11 EST 2009

Online student evaluation for this course opens Tuesday, December 1, 2009, and ends Saturday, December 19, 2009. Instructions for students to access the evaluation:

1. Go to http://cp.rowan.edu/cp/.
2. Click "Student Self-Service" icon.
3. Click "Access Banner Services - Secure Area - login Required"
4. Enter User ID and PIN.
5. Click "Personal Information".
6. Click "Answer a Survey".
7. Click on one of the student evaluations for your classes.
8. Complete the student evaluation.
9. Click "Survey Complete" to submit your completed student evaluation.
10. Repeat for other Fall 2009 classes.

Tue Dec 1 08:50:01 EST 2009

While reading Chapter 5, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• `loop' and `while' iterate (repeat) over code; lists and arrays are used to have the same code iterate over data;
• list and arrays are data structures (compared to control structures)
  • use a list if the size (number of items of data) changes
  • use an array for a fixed number of items of data
  • when creating a variable, check the box for making a list (or array)
  • then click the new item button repeatedly to populate the list (or array) with numbers (or strings or objects)
  • forAllInOrder and forAllTogether are control structures
  • list example using forAllInOrder BeesTakeoffSequentially.a2w
  • list example using forAllTogether BeesTakeoffSimultaneously.a2w
  • using a list variable, you can set (change) the value of a particular item in the list by specifying its position or index (position numbers start with zero)
  • you can add an item to the list, remove an item from the list, clear the list
  • you can ask the list questions (list functions) like its size, the value of a particular item in the list by specifying its position or index, firstIndexOf, lastIndexOf
  • LineOfPeople.a2w
• array example using two arrays of strings: AntMarchingSong.a2w
• using an array instead of a list in the earlier list example: BeesTakeoffArrayVersion.a2w
• random number generator, integer only option, minimum inclusive, maximum exclusive, notation is [minimum, maximum): KnockKnock.a2w
• using the partNamed() built-in function: FairyCourt.a2w
• watch out for null objects, which sometimes show as a red <None>
• my example of list and array stuff based on the bees taking off: fiddleWithBees.a2w; see if you can recreate the statements
• a program to calculate your semester average and letter grade, calculateSemesterAverage.a2w; you must complete the code in one of the functions to get this to work correctly

Mon Nov 30 14:14:33 EST 2009

Exam 5 is on Thursday, December 3, 2009, and covers Chapters 3 and 4 of the text book, same as Exam 4 (built-in functions, number and string method also called local variables, number and string dialog, what.toString() and a+b for strings, method parameters, property also called object variables, setting vehicle property in a method, user-defined object and world functions perhaps with parameters, Boolean values, relational operators and expressions, Boolean operators and expressions, `If', `Loop', `While', `Wait', nesting, validating parameters, defensive programming).

Mon Nov 30 09:07:45 EST 2009

The ``last assignment'' is due in class on Thursday, December 10, 2009, in hardcopy form stapled twice as two separate documents.

Wed Nov 25 13:32:39 EST 2009

Solutions (export code for printing) so far.

• minimum and maximum, minAndMax.html
• exceeding the goal, exceedGoal.html
• Roman numerals, romanNumerals.html
• prime numbers, somePrimeNumbers.html
• perfect numbers, perfectNumbers.html

Tue Nov 24 14:50:40 EST 2009

On Tuesday, December 1, 2009, you must sit in a seat in Robinson 312 that you have never sat in before. We will start talking about lists and arrays (Chapter 5). You will be used as props for demonstration purposes during class.

Thu Nov 19 11:29:30 EST 2009

There will be a new seating arrangement to appear below for Tuesday, November 24, 2009, and it will show you your fellow group members for Tuesday. Row 1 is along the outside wall next to the window. For each of you, the other people in your group should all be different than last Thursday.

row 1: Steve, Jackie, Mike, John
row 2: Megan, Sarah, Nancy, Jack
row 3: Alex C, Stephanie G, Gina
row 4: Ariele, Nicole, Caitlin
row 5: Erik K, Erik L, Amanda, Jason
row 6: Kristyn, Drew, Lydia, Stephanie M
row 7: Kim, Joe, Alex S

Each group will

• introduce themselves to each other;
• see if the group has any correct solution(s) from Thursday;
• if so, the group will review and rerun the correct solution(s) to make sure each group member understands the solution(s) fully, particularly if a group member was on a team Thursday that did not solve any of the three problems;
• work on solving the problem(s), if any, for which the group does not have a working solution
• work on the following new problems to appear.

New problems.

• Generate prime numbers. A positive integer (whole number) greater than one is prime if and only if the number is evenly divisible by only itself and one. Ask the user over and over again for numbers to test for primality. Tell the user to enter another number if the user enters a number less than two or greater than 10,000. Stop asking for numbers as soon as the user enters the magic number -999. Write a Boolean function that calculates whether or not a number (parameter) is prime.
• Generate perfect numbers. From the English Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_number.

  In mathematics, a perfect number is a positive integer that is the sum of its proper positive divisors, that is, the sum of the positive divisors excluding the number itself. Equivalently, a perfect number is a number that is half the sum of all of its positive divisors (including itself). The first perfect number is 6, because 1, 2, and 3 are its proper positive divisors, and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6. Equivalently, the number 6 is equal to half the sum of all its positive divisors: ( 1 + 2 + 3 + 6 ) / 2 = 6. The next perfect number is 28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14. This is followed by the perfect numbers 496 and 8128.

  Write an Alice program that will verify whether or not the number entered by the user is perfect (accept only numbers in the range 2 to 10,000 inclusive). Write a Boolean function that calculates whether or not a number (parameter) is perfect.
• Modify your prime number program to ask the user for a positive number less than or equal to 10,000 and to have a character say all prime numbers from 2 up to and including the number entered by the user.

Have a perfect Thanksgiving. Maybe try prime rib instead of turkey.

Wed Nov 18 14:28:10 EST 2009

We are going to shake things up a little in class Thursday. First, you are going to sit in (almost) alphabetical order, starting from the outside wall (furthest from the door).

row 1: Steve, Megan, Alex C, Ariele
row 2: Jackie, Sarah, Stephanie G, Nicole
row 3: Erik K, Kristyn, Kim
row 4: Erik L, Drew, Joe
row 5: Mike, Nancy, Gina
row 6: Caitlin, Amanda, Lydia, Alex S
row 7: John, Jack, Jason

Introduce yourselves to you fellow group members! Each of the seven groups (rows) will work together to solve a problem (animate a story) using Alice. You will help each other learn how to solve the problem (animate the story). I expect there to be continuous talking among the members in each group during the whole class period.

Here are the problems. Each group should decide on an algorithm. Only after deciding on the algorithm should each group start up a single Alice and translate the algorithm into Alice code. No need for lists and/or arrays (Chapter 5) yet. That will come later.

• Calculate the maximum value and minimum value in a bunch of numbers. First, ask the user for a number that represents how many numbers there are in the bunch. This number must be positive, of course. Then ask the user for each number in the bunch. Then have a character say the maximum value and minimum value in the bunch. For example, in these five numbers

  7, -2, 4, 17, -20

  the maximum is 17 and the minimum is -20.
• Translate a number into its Roman number equivalent. Translate numbers between 1 and 30 inclusive only. Keep translating numbers over and over again until the user enters a number less than or equal to zero. Try to think of an algorithm that minimizes the amount of Alice code you have to create. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Numerals.
• Ask the user for a number bigger than 100. Call this number goal. Then ask the user for more numbers, each of which must be between 1 and 15 inclusive, over and over again until the sum of the numbers entered exceeds the goal. Then have a character say how much the total exceeded the goal. For example, suppose the user entered 123 for the goal and then entered the numbers

  10, 15, 5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 15, 5, 10, 10, 15, 5, 10, 15

  The character would say ``2.''

Thu Nov 12 14:01:46 EST 2009

On Tuesday, November 17, 2009, we will go over one of many solutions to Exam 4, Export Code for Printing, and we will start looking at Chapter 5 of the text book a few classes later.

Thu Nov 12 10:50:05 EST 2009

I have not had any trouble with infinite loops in Alice, always being able to click the X in the upper right of the animation window to stop the program. But it is possible to get into a situation where there is a number dialog box open and every time you enter a number, there is not enough time to click that X before the number dialog box pops up again. So poor Alice is hung and the only way out I know of is to type control-alt-delete to bring up the task manager and terminate the Alice task. How much of your code gets lost depends on how long ago you last saved the program. There are two things to learn from this.

1. Save your program often, every two or three minutes! This minimizes the amount of work you can lose if the power goes out (rare at Rowan as we all know) or some other mishap occurs. In particular, save your program every time right before clicking the Play button if you have added or changed code.
2. If you have a number dialog inside a `while' loop there is the possibility of an infinite loop. Insert immediately after the number dialog statement either a `say' statement of duration two or more seconds or a `wait' statement of two or more seconds. This should give you the opportunity to click the animation window's X to stop the program.

Tue Nov 10 12:05:56 EST 2009

Here is the Export Code for Printing of enough code for Programming Project 4.7 to get you started. You should finish this on your own.

Tue Nov 10 11:02:59 EST 2009

Here is the Export Code for Printing of Programming Project 4.6 that we did in class this morning.

Mon Nov 9 16:43:57 EST 2009

Exam 4 is in class on Thursday, November 12, 2009. It will cover Chapter 4 (Boolean values, relational operators and expressions, Boolean operators and expressions, `If', `Loop', `While', `Wait', nesting, validating parameters, defensive programming) from the text book.

Thu Nov 5 13:19:54 EST 2009

Here is the Export Code for Printing of Programming Project 4.5 that we did in class this morning with some defensive programming and debugging output added.

Thu Nov 5 07:34:43 EST 2009

Here is a hint to 4.5 I gave in an e-mail message this morning. This is an algorithm or pseudocode. Missing is some defensive programming to guard against the user entering zero or negative for numberItems in the first NumberDialog.

Number sum = 0
Number numberItems = 0
Number oneItem = 0
Number average = 0
numberItems = NumberDialog(Enter the number of items of data to average)
for (index = 0; index < numberItems; index++) {
  oneItem = NumberDialog(Please enter the next data item)
  sum = sum + oneItem
}
average = sum/numberItems
say(The average is average.toString())
  

Mon Nov 2 14:44:03 EST 2009

Here is the Export Code For Printing of my version of Programming Project 4.1 (hop around the building) I showed in class.

Fri Oct 30 16:12:55 EDT 2009

For Thursday, November 5, 2009, do Project 7, the following Programming Projects at the end of Chapter 4 of the text book. I will call on people at random to show their Alice worlds.

• 4.5
• 4.6
• 4.7
• 4.12

Tue Oct 27 08:39:59 EDT 2009

For Thursday, October 29, 2009, do Project 6, the following Programming Projects at the end of Chapter 4 of the text book. I will call on people at random to show their Alice worlds. By the way, a new version of Ubuntu Linux comes out on Thursday. Best of all, it's free!

• 4.1. Use a hopping animal that does not already have a hop() method written by the creator of the animal model in the gallery. How to validate a parameter is described in Section 4.2.5 for the minnow jump method. Think of the characters tracing rectangles on the exam: pretend there is a big rectangle on the ground that surrounds the building, then use hops to trace the rectangle.
• 4.2. Try a loop and use the index variable as the value passed to a number parameter in a method that says a verse of the song. Watch out for ``hammer'' versus ``hammers'' in a verse. Looks like an `if' control structure might come in handy here.

Sat Oct 24 18:32:45 EDT 2009

Exam 3 was harder that the first two, as the posted grades show. Only two people in the class figured out how to have a single method for singing the song and a single method for doing the rectangles (by having an object parameter in the two methods representing the character singing a verse or doing rectangle stuff).

Thu Oct 22 11:56:57 EDT 2009

On Tuesday, October 27, 2009, we will go over one of many solutions to Exam 3, export code for printing, and we will start looking at Chapter 4 of the text book. While reading Chapter 4, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• Boolean type values, expressions, variables, and functions
  • lots of builtin Boolean valued functions, for example, isLargerThan()
  • Boolean values from functions, expressions, variables are used in `if' and `while' statements
  • six relational operators ==, !=, <, <=, >, >=
  • Boolean expressions like hoursWorked > 40
  • three Boolean operators &&, ||, !
  • Boolean expressions like age > 12 && age < 20
• `if' statement (also called a control structure) for making a decision about which of two blocks of code to execute
  • PrincessAndDragon.a2w
• wait() statement to pause program execution
• validating parameter values and nested `if' statements
  • a variable whose name is all capitalized, like MAX_DISTANCE, plays the role of a constant and makes the program more readable
  • a minnow can jump only a positive distance not greater than two meters

    if (distance > 0 && distance <= MAX_DISTANCE) {
       // jump
    } else {
       if (distance <= 0) {
          // cannot jump a negative distance
       } else {
          // cannot jump this far
       }
    }
    

  • JumpingFish.a2w
• `for' statement (control structure) for repetition a fixed number of times (looping)
  • simple version for (int index = 0; index < limit; index++) {...}
  • FlapWings.a2w
  • complicated version lets you change the 0, the limit, and the increment; both simple and complicated versions only count up
  • nested `for' loops, a `for' loop calls a method repeatedly and inside the method is another `for' loop
  • DragonAndCastle.a2w
  • asSeenBy attribute of the turn method
• ``while' statement (control structure) for repetition an arbitrary number of times (looping)
  • while (Boolean condition) {...}
  • DragonDescendsToDrawbridge.a2w
  • be careful of infinite loops
  • DroppingBall.a2w
  • `if' and `for' in a user-written function where the `for' is nested inside the `if'
  • FibonacciSpiral.a2w

Tue Oct 20 11:37:03 EDT 2009

Exam 3 is on Thursday, October 22, 2009, and covers Chapter 3.

Tue Oct 20 11:22:50 EDT 2009

Project 5 consisted of 3.3, 3.4, and 3.6. I ran out of time today to talk about these (actually, I forgot about them). They are an excellent way to study for Exam 3 on Thursday. Some ideas.

• 3.3: Write a function with one parameter, the length of a side of a square, that calculates the area of the square. Write another function with a parameter that calculates the perimeter. Write an object method for your person that has one parameter, the length of a side of a square. The code in the method has the person move forward the length of the square's side, turns left one quarter revolution, moves forward same amount, turns, moves forward same amount, turns, moves forward same amount. The person should now be back to where it started. In world.my first method, use a number dialog to get the length of the square's side, use the two functions to say the area and perimeter, and use the method to animate moving in the shape of the square.
• 3.4: This is like the hypotenuse program.
• 3.6: This is like the ``Old MacDonald Had a Farm'' example.

Wed Oct 14 13:23:40 EDT 2009

Here is the ``Export code for printing'' of Project 4. You should be able to recreate any of the statements in the code.

• GirlAndHorse.html
• programmingProject3.1.html
• kangarooAndCrate.html

Wed Oct 14 13:23:40 EDT 2009

I just now noticed that there are no classes on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, Election Day. Gasp! Because of that I have moved Exams 4 and 5 back a week. See the revised schedule at the end of the syllabus.

Wed Oct 14 09:53:20 EDT 2009

I will be on campus from about noon to about 5pm today.

Tue Oct 13 07:30:36 EDT 2009

For Tuesday, Thursday, and Tuesday, October 13, 15, and 20, 2009, we will continue discussing Chapter 3 of the text book in class.

• built-in functions
• method (also called local) variables
• number dialog (and string dialog) to get a user-entered value
• converting a number variable to a string and storing it in a string variable using toString()
• using a+b in a character say method
• parameter variable in a user-defined object method
• property (also called object) variables
• setting vehicle property in a method
• user-defined object functions
• user-defined object functions with parameters
• user-defined world functions

We will practice recreating the new stuff in each of the chapter's example programs.

• GirlAndHorse.a2w
• ComputeHypotenuse.a2w
• SingOldMacDonald.a2w
• JumpingFish.a2w
• TwinWizards.a2w
• GirlAndHorse1.a2w
• GirlAndHorse.a2w
• TwinWizards.a2w
• CalculateHypotenuse.a2w

I have a ``kitchen sink'' example, variables.a2w, that we will look at also (``kitchen sink'' means that it has one of just about everything from Chapter 3 in it).

Project 5 consists of additional practice doing these Programming Projects at the end of Chapter 3 of the text book.

• 3.3 (no need to use the he- and she-builders, just pick a character from the galleries),
• 3.4, and
• 3.6.

Tue Oct 6 12:21:15 EDT 2009

I will be in my office Wednesday, October 7, 2009, from around 12:15pm until 5:30pm or so for questions and help.

Tue Oct 6 10:52:41 EDT 2009

After talking to individual students today (and not even everybody), I think we need to slow down a bit and spend more time on variables and builtin functions. Variables in a programming language can be hard to grasp. So, I'm changing what the exam on Thursday will cover to just Chapters 1 and 2 (world methods, object methods, camera dummy objects). Exam 3 will be on stuff in Chapter 3.

Mon Oct 5 11:58:26 EDT 2009

A general strategy while reading the text book is to download the programs for the chapter you are reading, then make sure you know how to recreate each statement in the program, the sequence of mousing, typing, drags and drops, etc. Some of them are quite involved, like a character saying, ``My distance to the kangaroo is x meters and my distance to the white rabbit is y meters.'' Here x and y are really actual numbers like 1.2 and 3.4 obtained by calling builtin functions like distanceTo(some object), perhaps saving the answers returned by the functions in variables.

Thu Oct 1 11:20:22 EDT 2009

The text book's example programs are available for anyone to download from http://alice.calvin.edu/books/alice+java/examples/.

Thu Oct 1 11:10:06 EDT 2009

Exam 2 will be in class Thursday, October 8, 2009. It will cover Chapters 1 and 2 (world methods, object methods, camera dummy objects) and the following from Chapter 3: method variables, standard (builtin) functions, and arithmetic expressions.

Thu Oct 1 08:20:46 EDT 2009

An extra ``check'' (or two) is needed when exporting code for printing if your program contains object methods that you wrote the code for. Keep this in mind for the future.

After debugging your Alice program, print out the code of the final version using the File menu and selecting Export Code for Printing. Before clicking Export, make sure that all the object methods you wrote the code for are checked in their check boxes and that no other object methods (the ones originally there above the ``create new method'' that you did not write the code for) are not checked. Example before checking boxes; example after checking boxes. When you File Export Code for Printing, you will be creating a file named project03.html. Open this file in your favorite browser and print it. Here is an example file.

It seems that world methods don't get left out like this.

Thu Oct 1 07:25:02 EDT 2009

Project 4 consists of the following exercises.

• Download to your USB drive the file GirlAndHorse.a2w from the text book author's Web site. This is the program for Figure 3-1 on page 67 of the text book.
  • Right-click on the horse in the object tree and select turnToFace the camera.
  • Click play. Oops! The distanceInFrontOf function does not work so well any more.
  • Change distanceInFrontOf to distanceTo the horse. Click play.
  • Right-click on the horse and select resize twice as big. Click play. Oops! The girl is embedded in the horse's leg because the -0.5 in the move is not enough any more.
  • Return the horse to its original size and now make the horse one eighth its original size. Click play. Now the girl does not seem as close to the horse because the -0.5 in the move is now too much.
  • Modify the move instruction so that the girl and horse do not collide even if the horse is resized much bigger and so that the girl still moves ``close'' even if the horse is resized much smaller. Do the same thing for the case of the girl being resized bigger or smaller. Replace the -0.5 in the code with some combination of the horse's height, width, and depth, and the girl's height, width, and depth (builtin also called standard functions).
  • Right-click on the horse in the object tree and select turnToFace the girl. Click play. Does your code still work well when the horse and/or the girl are resized bigger and/or smaller?
  • What we are doing is experimenting with collision avoidance code and trying to make the exact same code work in as many different initial scenes as possible. We are also learning how to work with builtin (standard) functions, method variables, and arithmetic expressions.
  • An important use of the variable distanceToHorse is that the variable remembers the value and we could use the variable to move the girl backward to her original position in the initial scene, something we could not do as easily without the variable.
• Programming project 3.1 on page 102. Try to make your code as general as possible in the sense of the exact same code working no matter where the characters are in the initial scene and no matter how much they are resized bigger or smaller. Be sure to use several method variables.
• Create a world with a crate (Objects gallery) and a kangaroo (Animals gallery). Turn the kangaroo to face the crate. Make the kangaroo hop to the top of the crate, turning the kangaroo's legs backward and forward to make it look like a hop. Use the height of the crate function and the distance of the kangaroo to the crate function to make your exact same code works no matter how far or close the kangaroo is to the crate in the initial scene and no matter how much the crate and/or the kangaroo are resized bigger and/or smaller in the initial scene. Also try to keep the kangaroo's legs from seeming to go through the crate on the kangaroo's way to the top. Play around with the durations of the kangaroo's move forward and move up to get the kangaroo to move up more quickly than moving forward so its legs clear the edge of the crate. Or play around with the durations of the kangaroo's legs moving forward and backward.
• There are no tangible deliverables, just learning.

Wed Sep 30 10:03:11 EDT 2009

No more printing on the classroom printer (even if it is working, which as of yesterday it was not) and no more leaving class to print. It is just too disruptive and not fair to those who took the time and care to do their printing before class!

Sun Sep 27 18:03:29 EDT 2009

Exam 1 grades are in the grades file. Project 4 on Chapter 3 will be due Tuesday, October 6, 2008. Details to come. Exam 2 is Thursday, October 8, 2009.

Sat Sep 26 10:54:44 EDT 2009

For classes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Tuesday, September 29, October 1 and 6, 2009, you will demo your Project 3 programs to the class and I will verbally quiz random students about object methods, dummy objects (leftovers from Chapter 2 of the text book), and method and object variables, parameters, and functions from Chapter 3.

Wed Sep 23 12:43:11 EDT 2009

A few people put no comments at all in their Alice code, not even one in world.my first method. Those people lost a half day of attendance for not being completely prepared.

Mon Sep 21 10:54:43 EDT 2009

For Thursday, October 1, 2009, read Chapter 3 of the text book. This chapter starts the transition from animating stories to scientific programming. While reading, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• variables are like a basket with a name for storing a value of some type (number, true/false, character string, color, object); the value can be stored, retrieved, and changed multiple times; reads are non-destructive
• method variables, click a method's tab to edit its code, click ``create new variable'' button, enter name, select type, select initial value
• a method variable is a local variable, meaning it can only be used by the code in the method in which the variable was created
• use a noun for a variable name, describing its contents, for example, distanceToHorse (note capitalization)
• to store a value in a variable, drag the variable icon into the code where you want the store action to occur; select ``set value'' and enter a value
• to set the value of distanceToHorse, we enter a number as a temporary value, then click the girl object in the object tree, click the functions tab in the details area, drag the function distanceInFrontOf() to the temporary value and drop it on top of the temporary value, then select horse and the entire horse
• click girl in object tree, click methods tab, drag move() and drop into code, select forward, select distanceToHorse from expressions
• the distanceTo function returns object center to object center distance whereas distanceInFrontOf() function returns leading edge to leading edge distance; the former embeds the girl in the horse, the latter has them nose-to-nose after the move
• to reduce the distanced moved so noses don't touch, click arrow next to distanceToHorse, select math, select minus sign, select 0.5
• using a variable and the distanceInFrontOf() function is much better than using trial-and-error to figure out the number of meters, like 3.42 or something like that, to move the girl close to the horse; that number changes if we move horse and/or girl around but the function distanceInFrontOf() returns the correct value reflecting the current state of the world after such a move
• another benefit of using a variable is using the variable's value multiple places in the code; if the value changes, we don't have to make multiple edits in the code, just one to the variable's set value statement
• another way to store a value in a variable is to ask the user for the number to store (hypotenuse program example)
• in the world's functions tab is NumberDialog, which can be dragged and dropped on top of a temporary value in a variable set action; then enter the prompt message to be displayed
• Math.sqrt() is a function in the world's functions tab
• getting the girl to say ``The hypotenuse length is number'' involves a lot of steps (pages 77--78 of the text book): creating a string variable hypotString, using the world function toString() and the variable hypotenuse to set the value of hypotString, using the world function a+b to append hypotString to what the girl says
• when we drag and drop a method like move() into our code, we provide direction and distance information, called arguments
• in the code of a method is a particular kind of variable called a parameter that stores the values of the arguments provided each time the function is used during program execution
• example is scarecrow's singVerse() method that requires two arguments when used, for example, strings "cow" and "moo"
• the code for singVerse() shows two parameter variables, string animal and string noise
• when coding a method, click the ``create new parameter'' button and select name and type; note there is no initial value to enter because the matching argument provides the value when the method is used
• the Old MacDonald Had A Farm example on page 81 of the text book is a good example of how to reduce the code size and code redundancy of a program by looking at the pattern of the verses
• method parameters let us control or modify or tailor the behavior or action of a method
• in addition to local variables and parameter variables, Alice has object variables, also called instance variables or properties
• click an object's properties tab in its details area and click ``create new variable'' then select type and enter name and initial value
• example: add wizard object from gallery, create myName string object variable initialized to "Jim", copy the wizard object by clicking the ``Add Objects'' button, then the copy button under the single/quad view radio buttons and clicking on the wizard object in the add objects window, close the add objects window, click on the new wizard object in the object tree, change initial value of myName from "Jim" to "Tim"
• object variables are used just like local variables and parameters by dragging and dropping them
• just like objects have built-in methods like move and turn, they have built-in object variables (properties) like color, isShowing, opacity, vehicle, pointOfView
• just like we can define our own methods, we can define our own object variables
• the vehicle property is used to synchronize the movement of two objects, moving and turning
• for a girl on a horse, set the vehicle property of the girl to be the horse; can be done at a particular point in the code by dragging and dropping the vehicle object variable into the code and selecting the horse, or by clicking the vehicle object variable in the properties tab and changing its value from world to horse
• methods cause an action to occur (move, say, turn, etc.) and change the state of the world or an object, whereas functions answer a question about the state of the world or an object without changing it
• methods are used as statements that cause actions or behaviors; functions are used where numbers and strings appear in statements
• just like we can write our own methods, we can write our own functions by clicking an object's functions tab and clicking the ``create new function'' button, entering a name and selecting the return type (kind of value the function provides as the answer)
• just like we have world methods and object methods, we have world functions and object functions; world methods are an organizational tool to break the story up into more manageable pieces; object methods add new behaviors and actions to an object; the guidelines for world functions and object functions are somewhat similar: if the function deals with multiple objects in the world make it world, if the function deals with just one object, make it object; the getFullName() function below for the wizard is object and the calculateHypotenuse() function below is also object
• functions we write can have parameters optionally
• example: create myName and myTitle properties in a wizard object, create a getFullName() function that returns a string answer; create a new local variable fullName in the function, code the function to set the value of fullName to be myTitle+" "+myName, drag the variable fullName and drop it on the temporary value in the return statement at the end of the function
• now we can create a copy of the wizard object, set the object variables myName and myTitle to the proper values in each wizard object
• example of a function with parameters, calculateHypotenuse(), that has two number parameters, leg1 and leg2, and returns a number answer

Thu Sep 17 14:50:43 EDT 2009

The following Project 3 is due in class Tuesday, September 29, 2009. It is an extension of Project 2.

1. Enhance your Alice world from Project 2 by using dummy objects so that each of your three scenes has two or more points of view of the camera. In other words, your Alice world will have at least six (6) dummy objects in it and each of your three scenes will use at least two different dummy objects. Each dummy object will be used in at least one scene.
2. Add an object method, that is, one you create and write the code for, one that is not already above the ``create new method'' button, to each of your three characters.
3. Remember that each method, including world.my first method, has a DoInOrder at its outermost level. In other words, the first thing you do when implementing or coding a method is drag into it a DoInOrder; everything else except the initial comment goes inside this DoInOrder.
4. Remember that world.my first method has a comment at the top containing your story title, date, name, course, section.
5. All other methods that you write the code for contain a comment at the top giving a one or two sentence description of what the method does or what part of the story the method animates.
6. Test your Alice program. Debug your program. Repeat above steps as necessary.

Deliverables in class.

1. Put a comment in world.my first method containing the title of your story, current date, your name, course, and section number.
2. Put a comment in all other methods that you write the code for describing what the method does.
3. After debugging your Alice program, print out the code of the final version using the File menu and selecting Export Code for Printing. Before clicking Export, make sure that all the object methods you wrote the code for are checked in their check boxes and that no other object methods (the ones originally there above the ``create new method'' that you did not write the code for) are not checked. Example before checking boxes; example after checking boxes. When you File Export Code for Printing, you will be creating a file named project03.html. Open this file in your favorite browser and print it. Here is an example file.
4. Play your animation one last time. As soon as you can after clicking Play, click Pause in the animation window that has popped up and click Take Picture. After saving the picture, click Play in the animation window, let the animation finish, then click Take Picture a second time. After saving the second picture, close Alice, open the two picture files and print each. Here are two example picture files, capture00.jpeg and capture01.jpeg.
5. Externally labeled (name, course, section number) USB drive containing your Alice world in a file named project03.a2w in a subfolder named Projects, which is in a folder named IntroSciProg at the top level of your USB drive.

You must have all the deliverables in class on the due date in order not to be charged a full day of attendance as described in the syllabus. I will collect USB drives this time to look at your projects. No late projects will be accepted!

Thu Sep 17 14:36:41 EDT 2009

Exam 1 is on Thursday, September 24, 2009. It will cover the four Alice tutorials, the turn() method with the asSeenBy attribute, Chapter 1 of the text book, and Chapter 2 of the text book except object methods and dummy objects.

Wed Sep 16 09:32:22 EDT 2009

Office visits will resume Thursday, September 17, 2009, during office hours, and Friday afternoon, September 18, 2009.

Sun Sep 13 06:58:51 EDT 2009

I will be in my office Monday, September 14, 2009, for office visits from about 10:30am on (no classes to teach, no meetings yet).

Fri Sep 11 12:17:58 EDT 2009

In class on Tuesday, September 15, 2009, you will hand in the deliverables for Project 1 and as many people as we have time for will show their projects to the class (chosen at random). The remaining people will show on Thursday.

Fri Sep 11 12:16:45 EDT 2009

The following Project 2 is due in class Tuesday, September 22, 2009. It is an extension of Project 1.

1. Extend your original short story from Project 1 with two (2) more scenes for three (3) scenes total. Your story must have at least three characters (People, Animals, or other people and animal types) from the Alice galleries.
2. In each of the three (3) scenes of your story, at least two of your story's characters must perform at least five actions that combine to make the story's scene interesting.
3. In each scene, at least two of each character's five actions must involve subparts.
4. In each scene, there must be two actions that occur simultaneously (remember to use DoTogether in the code).
5. Each character's actions must come from the methods pane below the ``create new method'' button and not have an ``edit'' button beside it.
6. Draw storyboard-sketches of animations of each scene in your story, at least one storyboard-sketch for each scene.
7. Write out the flow or algorithm for your story's animation as a numbered sequence of steps (example on page 5 of text book) for each scene.
8. Each scene will be animated with its own world method named playScene01, playScene02, playScene03 or animateScene01, etc.
9. Create an empty Alice world and animate your story with an Alice program.
10. Implement (code) each of your scene's methods.
11. Edit world.my first method so it calls your scene world methods in order.
12. Remember that each method, including world.my first method, has a DoInOrder at its outermost level. In other words, the first thing you do when implementing or coding a method is drag into it a DoInOrder; everything else except the initial comment goes inside this DoInOrder.
13. Remember that world.my first method has a comment at the top containing your story title, date, name, course, section.
14. All other methods that you write the code for contain a comment at the top giving a one or two sentence description of what the method does or what part of the story the method animates.
15. Test your Alice program. Debug your program. Repeat above steps as necessary.

Deliverables in class.

1. Hardcopy (hand written or computer printout) of the user story part of your program design. Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
2. Hardcopy (hand drawn or computer printout) of the storyboard-sketches part of your program design. Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
3. Hardcopy (hand written or computer printout) of the algorithm or flow part of your program design (numbered sequence of steps for each scene). Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
4. Put a comment in world.my first method containing the title of your story, current date, your name, course, and section number.
5. Put a comment in all other methods that you write the code for describing what the method does.
6. After debugging your Alice program, print out the code of the final version using the File menu and selecting Export Code for Printing. When you File Export Code for Printing, you will be creating a file named project02.html. Open this file in your favorite browser and print it. Here is an example file, WorldMethods.html.
7. Play your animation one last time. As soon as you can after clicking Play, click Pause in the animation window that has popped up and click Take Picture. After saving the picture, click Play in the animation window, let the animation finish, then click Take Picture a second time. After saving the second picture, close Alice, open the two picture files and print each. Here are two example picture files, capture00.jpeg and capture01.jpeg.
8. Externally labeled (name, course, section number) USB drive containing your Alice world in a file named project02.a2w in a subfolder named Projects, which is in a folder named IntroSciProg at the top level of your USB drive.

You must have all the deliverables in class on the due date in order not to be charged a full day of attendance as described in the syllabus. No late projects will be accepted!

Thu Sep 10 07:17:01 EDT 2009

For Thursday, September 17, 2009, read Chapter 2 of the text book. While reading, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• maybe in the tutorials but maybe not yet in the text book is the asSeenBy attribute used with the turn left or right action; when object A does a turn left or turn right asSeenBy object B, object A goes around object B in a perfect circle with object B at the center of the circle
• maybe in the tutorials but maybe not yet in the text book is during initial scene construction before adding any code, you can right-click on an object (including the camera) in the object tree and select a basic method (move, turn, etc.) and have that action performed in the initial scene; this is different than dragging a basic method into your code somewhere; the former is part of creating your initial scene and positioning objects in it and the latter is an action performed at some point after clicking the play button
• world methods are for organizing and dividing a story into more manageable pieces
• object methods are for adding new behaviors and actions to objects
• stories are divided into scenes and scenes are divided into shots
• ``divide and conquer'' is break up a big problem into smaller ones, solve each smaller one, combine the smaller solutions
• to create a new world method: click world in the object tree, click methods tab in details area, click ``create new method'' button, type in the method name
• methods should have verb-like name (objects are nouns), for example, animateScene01
• click the new method's tab in the editing area
• enter code for the new method, a doInOrder to start
• click world.my first method tab, drag up a doInOrder, and drag the tile for animateScene01 from the world's details method tab into the doInOrder in editing area
• repeat to create new methods animateScene02 and animateScene03, and drag their tiles into world.my first method's doInOrder
• in a similar fashion, each scene's method can be broken up into methods for shots in the scene, animateScene01Shot01, animateScene01Shot02, etc., animateScene02Shot01, animateScene02Shot02, etc.
• think about scenes and shots while writing you user story and drawing your storyboard-sketches
• divide your flow or algorithm (sequence of numbered steps) into scenes and shots
• put each algorithm piece into a method
• methods should never have a scroll bar (if it does, it is too long)
• get in the habit of putting a doInOrder immediately in each new method you create
• world methods are used to organize the code for a story in a hierarchical fashion
• when the coding of all world methods is finished and the story is animated completely, each world method will contain code involving several objects
• object methods add a new behavior or action to an object, for example, a flapWings() method for a Dragon object from the Fantasy gallery
• select the dragon object in the object tree, click the method tab in the details area, click ``create new method'' and enter the method's name
• click the dragon.flapWings tab in the coding area and drag up a doInOrder, then enter the code to animate flapping wings (page 40 of the text book)
• click one of the scene and shot world method tabs and drag flapWings() in
• good programmers put comments in their code to explain the coding steps
• each method needs a comment at the top explaining the overall purpose of the method
• move, turn, and other basic methods have a style attribute ``begin and end abruptly'' used to piece together separate actions more smoothly
• right-click on a statement to make a copy within a method
• drag a statement into the clipboard to make a copy in another method (drag from the clipboard into the other method)
• after adding a new object method to an object, we can use the enhanced object in other worlds
• right-click the object in the object tree and give the object a new name, such as, flappingDragon or marchingSoldier
• right-click again, select ``save object'' and navigate to a folder then click save
• open the other world with File Open
• use File Import, navigate to the folder and select the saved enhanced object, click import
• since the camera is an object, it has all the usual basic methods, move, turn, etc., so by clicking the camera in the object tree and dragging camera basic methods (move, turn, etc.) into your animation code, you can manipulate the camera during the execution of an Alice program
• Alice also has dummy objects that can be used with the camera to move the camera around for various shots
• wherever the camera is, a dummy object can be dropped that has the position and orientation (point of view) of the camera
• rename the dummy object to something meaningful and later on in the code after the camera has been moved elsewhere, the statement camera.setPointOfView(some dummy object) can be used to bring the camera back to the dummy's point of view
• you can right-click on the camera in the object tree and select basic methods (move, turn, etc.) to manipulate the camera for dropping dummy objects;
• another way to manipulate the camera for dropping dummy objects is with the three blue arrow sets below the initial scene; the left-most arrow set moves the camera up-down-left-right; the middle arrow set moves the camera forward-backward and turns the camera left-right; the right-most arrow set tilts (pitches) the camera forward-backward; try turning the camera with the middle arrow set left all the way around (360 degrees) to its original position again; try tilting the camera forward all the way around (360 degrees) to its original position again
• pages 50--57 in the text book show an excellent example of using dummy objects to manipulate the camera and you should recreate this example on your own
• an object's position is its location in the world, its coordinates in three dimensional space, right-left, up-down, forward-backward, where RUF (right-up-forward) of the origin (0,0,0) is positive and LDB is negative
• right-left, up-down, forward-backward can also be called the width, height, and depth dimensions
• click on the ground object in the object tree to see the RUF axes
• click on an object in the object, then click on its properties tab, look for the pointOfView property to see the object's position (coordinates)
• in the initial scene, click on the object to move it and watch the coordinates change
• the move basic method in the code changes an object's position
• an object's orientation is how the object's notion of RUF compares to RUF of the world
• turn left, turn right (rotate about UD axis also called yaw), turn forward, turn backward (rotate about RL axis also called pitch), roll left, roll right (rotate about FB axis also called roll) change an object's orientation
• an object's orientation is its yaw, pitch, and roll numbers; the pointOfView property also shows an object's orientation
• the pointAt method causes an object's FB axis to point at the center of the target object and can change yaw and pitch
• setting the onlyAffectYaw attribute of pointAt to true makes pointAt work like turnToFace
• an object's point of view is its position and orientation, its six degrees of freedom
• related to the setPointOfView() method are the moveTo() and orientTo() methods; the former sets the position (leaving orientation unchanged) of an object to be the same as the target object; the latter sets the orientation (leaving position unchanged) of an object to be the same as the target object

Thu Sep 10 07:17:01 EDT 2009

I will come to campus Monday, September 14, 2009, for office visits if at least one person makes an appointment by late Sunday evening. If no one does, then I will work at home on Monday.

Wed Sep 9 06:22:46 EDT 2009

In class on Thursday, September 10, 2009, those students without USB drives are unprepared and will be charged half a day of attendance as described in the syllabus. Also, for the project due Tuesday, September 15, 2009, please feel free to add other stuff (buildings, plants, rocks, animals, etc.) to your scene. Your two characters do not have to be Alice Liddell and the White Rabbit; please make your own choices.

Tue Sep 8 14:39:00 EDT 2009

In class on Thursday, September 10, 2009, we will open from the USB drive Tuesday's Alice program. We will put a comment at the top of world.my first method containing title, date, programmer's name, course, section. We will add a ``set opacity to zero duration 10 seconds'' to the code. We will fiddle with quad view to put the White Rabbit standing on Alice's head. We will save the resulting Alice world to our USB drives. After that, I'll ask some random students some questions about the stuff in Chapter 1 of the text book to see who is prepared.

Tue Sep 8 14:16:20 EDT 2009

Two more things to try to get Alice to run. Somebody in class mentioned running Alice in Administrator Mode once and then it is fine after that. Also, look in the Required folder in the Alice 2.2 folder for an executable file IfAliceFailsTryThis.exe and try double-clicking on it.

Tue Sep 8 12:19:47 EDT 2009

I was unsuccessful trying to get Alice 2.2 working on a student's machine that runs Windows Vista. If anybody succeeds in doing that, let me know. Maybe Alice 2.0 will work on Windows Vista. Will someone try it and let me know? I googled ``Alice Windows Vista'' but found nothing useful.

Is Alice installed on the computers in the Mimosa dorm public lab? Somebody please let me know.

To see of Java is installed on your Windows computer, click Start, select Run, type cmd in the box, and click OK. In the command window that opens up, type java -version. If you see something like ``command not found,'' then visit the Web site http://java.sun.com/. Hover your mouse on the Downloads link, select Java SE, scroll down to Java SE Runtime Environment (JRE), click Download, select Windows for the Platform, check ``I agree,'' and click Continue. Under Available files, click jre-6u16-windows-i586.exe, click Save File, and save the file to your desktop. Once downloaded, double-click the file and start the install process.

Sun Sep 6 12:27:01 EDT 2009

Some interesting articles offering advice to college students, particularly first year ones, are in http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/opinion/06collegeadvice.html. My favorite is, ``Don't Alienate Your Professor.''

Sat Sep 5 19:39:49 EDT 2009

Another swine-flu-on-campus article, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/us/05flu.html. This one's kinda funny. Keep washing those hands, anyway!

Sat Sep 5 18:06:12 EDT 2009

In class on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, we will in step as a group implement the user story on page 4 of the text book that starts, ``Alice and the White Rabbit are facing each other....'' The program's flow or algorithm is on page 5. We will end up with the world.my first method on page 19 of the text book. We will put a comment at the top of world.my first method containing title, date, programmer's name, course, section. We will add a ``set opacity to zero duration 10 seconds'' to the code. We will fiddle with quad view. We will save the resulting Alice world to our USB drives.

Sat Sep 5 17:59:46 EDT 2009

It took me 12 hours on Saturday to download Alice 2.2! Alice is more Tortoise than Hare, I'd say. As of Tuesday, September 8, 2009, I will have a CD-R in my office containing Alice 2.2 that you can copy to your laptop's desktop if you would prefer not to hassle with a lengthy download. Just bring your laptop to my office, put the CD-R in, and drag the Alice 2.2 folder on the CD-R to your desktop.

Sat Sep 5 17:33:35 EDT 2009

The following Project 1 is due in class Tuesday, September 15, 2009. It is an extension of 1.10 on page 29 of the text book.

1. Think of and write an original short story that has one scene. An example is on page 4 of the text book. Your story must have at least two characters from the Alice galleries.
2. Each character must perform at least five actions that combine to make the story interesting.
3. At least two of each character's five actions must involve subparts.
4. Each character's actions must come from the methods pane below the ``create new method'' button and not have an ``edit'' button beside it.
5. Draw storyboard-sketch(es) of an animation of your story. The minimum is one storyboard-sketch per scene as shown on the bottom of page 6.
6. write out the flow or algorithm for your story's animation as a numbered sequence of steps (example on page 5 of text book)
7. Create an empty Alice world and animate your story with an Alice program. An example is on page 19.
8. Test your Alice program.

Deliverables in class.

1. Hardcopy (hand written or computer printout) of the user story part of your program design. Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
2. Hardcopy (hand drawn or computer printout) of the storyboard-sketch(es) part of your program design. Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
3. Hardcopy (hand written or computer printout) of the algorithm or flow part of your program design (numbered sequence of steps for each scene). Include the story's title, current date, your name, course, and section number at the top.
4. Put a comment in world.my first method containing the title of your story, current date, your name, course, and section number.
5. After debugging your Alice program, print out the code of the final version using the File menu and selecting Export Code for Printing. When you File Export Code for Printing, you will be creating a file named project01.html. Open this file in your favorite browser and print it. Here is an example file, WorldMethods.html.
6. Play your animation one last time. As soon as you can after clicking Play, click Pause in the animation window that has popped up and click Take Picture. After saving the picture, click Play in the animation window, let the animation finish, then click Take Picture a second time. After saving the second picture, close Alice, open the two picture files and print each. Here are two example picture files, capture00.jpeg and capture01.jpeg.
7. Externally labeled (name, course, section number) USB drive containing your Alice world in a file named project01.a2w in a subfolder named Projects, which is in a folder named IntroSciProg at the top level of your USB drive.

You must have all the deliverables in class on the due date in order not to be charged a full day of attendance as described in the syllabus. No late projects will be accepted!

Sat Sep 5 08:39:19 EDT 2009

Downloading Alice 2.2 to your own computer is very slow and might take the better part of a day. Don't try installing it until you are sure it has finished downloading.

Sat Sep 5 08:36:35 EDT 2009

I have a meeting 10:50am--12:05pm on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. I'll be in my office after that for the rest of the day.

Fri Sep 4 17:08:47 EDT 2009

You can learn more about analyzing space noise in Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SETI@home. To donate your own computer cycles, see http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/.

Thu Sep 3 14:15:31 EDT 2009

While reading Chapter 1 of the text book, take note of the following terms and concepts.

• programming is like filmmaking, user story, nouns are objects, verbs are actions, flow of actions, algorithm, storyboard-sketches
• object position, object pose, object orientation, camera object, transition diagram
• program design consists of user story and storyboard-sketch(es), (no transition diagram until Chapter 6)
• world template, File and Edit menus, Play and Undo buttons, world window, object tree, camera object, light object, ground object, details area, properties pane or tab, methods pane, functions pane,
• editing area, world.my first method, doInOrder control, doTogether control
• events area, When the world starts do ..., click Play button, run a program, execute a program
• display my program in Java style with color
• Add Objects button, Alice Gallery, gallery folders such as the People folder, classes (object blueprints) such as Class Alice Liddell in the People folder
• letter capitalization in object and class names
• deleting an object with right-clicking, renaming an object with right-clicking
• multiple copies (objects) can be created from the same class (blueprint)
• accessing object subparts in the object tree
• bounding box of an object or subpart
• send an object a message to have it perform a behavior, methods are behavior-producing messages, example methods (behaviors) are pointAt() and say(), pointAt() method requires a target argument
• click Play button to test the program, a problem or undesired animation is called a bug, finding and fixing bugs is called debugging
• duration and font size attributes of the say() method
• many program statements are of the form ``object.message(value); more...''
• doInOrder is also a statement that controls the statements inside it sequentially, doTogether is another statement that controls the statements inside it simultaneously
• software engineering process: write user story, identify nouns and verbs, create flow or algorithm, draw storyboard-sketches, add transition diagram, add object to world for each noun, this completes software design phase; start implementation and testing phase, add message for each verb to object of verb, set message attributes, test, find and fix bugs, repeat earlier step(s)
• click object in object tree, click detail area's properties pane (tab), color, opacity, vehicle, is showing, position, orientation
• click a property value to change in the initial scene
• drag a property tile into code editing area and select value to change property during program execution, for example drag opacity tile to editing area and select zero then increase duration to get a more gradual disappear
• click object in object tree, click detail area's methods pane, say, move, turn, roll, resize, pointAt, etc., basic methods or behaviors that all objects have
• some objects have non-basic behaviors above the ``create new method'' button that have ``edit'' buttons, Chapter 2 of text book shows how to create these
• click object in object tree, click detail area's functions pane, basic or standard questions a program can ask an object, retrieve information from an object, proximity, size, spatial relation, subparts, question answers might be a number, true or false
• click world in object tree and see boolean logic, math, etc., functions, possible to write non-basic or non-standard functions
• use quad view to position objects, click quad view to add views from top, right, and front, click hand button to move camera with the mouse, click magnifying glass button to zoom in and out with the mouse,
• practice using quad view to put a person standing on top of a horse, to put a glass or vase on a table, etc.

Wed Sep 2 13:16:15 EDT 2009

In class on Thursday, September 3, 2009,

• you will exchange contact information with two nearby classmates you do not know (see bottom of syllabus);
• we will look at the office visit questionnaire briefly;
• I will talk a little about algorithms and programming, using the examples
  • Your friend calls you from the Valley Forge rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (east bound) and asks ``How do I get to the Computer Science Department office at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ?'' What precise, complete, easy to follow, directions (instructions) do you give?
  • baking a cake,
  • converting degrees C to degrees F,
  • finding the next largest prime number,
  • analyzing radio noise from space for signs of intelligent life;
• we will start Alice and use Edit Preferences to switch the code display to Java syntax;
• we will fiddle with Alice some; and
• you will use any remaining time to start doing the four built-in Alice tutorials.

Sat Aug 29 09:49:35 EDT 2009

Let's keep Rowan out of the swine flu news, http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/28/health/AP-US-Colleges-Swine-Flu.html.

Sat Aug 22 17:55:13 EDT 2009

By our class meeting on Thursday, September 10, 2009, all registered students must have completed the following. Unprepared students will be charged a half day of attendance as described in the syllabus.

• Read Chapter 1, Getting Started with Alice, in the text book, Alice in Action with Java.
• Alice 2.2, Tutorial 1 (40 steps): world window, object tree, details area, editor area, events area, play button, methods tab in details area, methods are object's behaviors, drag and drop methods to editor area, select method arguments
• Alice 2.2, Tutorial 2 (69 steps): world methods, create new method, drag and drop new method, Alice has sound, edit existing method, subparts, drag and drop subpart methods
• Alice 2.2, Tutorial 3 (70 steps): mouse clicks and key presses are kinds of events, another event is when the world starts run method X where X might be world.penguins sing song, changing method X in the event when the world starts, create new event, drag and drop restricted to green box
• Alice 2.2, Tutorial 4 (34 steps): create scenes, add objects button, drag object to reposition in add object window, left right forward backward, move camera up down left right closer further, object template gallery, drag and drop objects, copy button then click one copy and drag away, after clicking copy button make sure to click left-most button before trying to move one of the copies away, rotate button, left-most button for normal drag left right forward backward, done button

Fri Aug 21 14:21:54 EDT 2009

Welcome to Introduction to Scientific Programming!

home page: http://elvis.rowan.edu/~hartley/index.html
e-mail: hartley@elvis.rowan.edu