CSC 390
Special Topics: Programming in Java

It's really two separate courses: one an introductory (though fast-paced) programming course that happens to use Java as its language, and the other a course for experienced programmers who want to add the Java language to their repertoire. I haven't done this before, so I'm not sure how it will work....

The syllabus is available in LaTeX, DVI, Postscript, and HTML.

A schedule of lectures tells what I plan to talk about, and what I expect you to have read, by each class meeting.

For those times when you want to work on your Java program but you're not on a machine with Café installed, here's a link to the Java 1.0.2 API Documentation, which I've downloaded from java.sun.com so we have a local copy.

Homework assignments

Assigned June 3, due June 9, postponed to June 12

Define a class named TextWindow or something similar that allows a user to print successive strings in a window (using Graphics.drawString) without worrying about heights and widths of fonts. I suggest defining methods print and println, each taking a String parameter. print will print it in the TextWindow at the current location, then update the "current location" to just to the right of the end of that string. (You'll need the stringWidth method of the FontMetrics class.) println will print the string at the current location, then update the "current location" to the beginning of the following line. You will probably want to define other methods, some public and some private. Features like not writing past the right-hand edge and the bottom of the TextWindow, or changing fonts, or word-wrapping, will be worth extra credit. Try to design this class so that you would find it useful in the future.

Assigned June 11, due June 18, postponed to June 19

Write a desk calculator program (either an Applet or a Frame-based application) which performs exact fraction arithmetic. See hw2.html for details. See Calculator.html for my quick-and-dirty solution (which works much better since I actually sat down and designed the user interface, rather than just writing it!)

Assigned June 19, due June 25

Further enhancements and repairs to your homework 1 or 2. You decide what needs fixing and what additional features you'd like to get working, and the more you do by June 25, the more impressed I'll be.

Reading assignments