The schedule and outline for this course is available at http://www.math.uic.edu/~burgiel/Mtht420.99/schedule.html.

In the Spring '99 course we will use the Java programming language to teach basic programming skills. The emphasis of the course will be on the general structure of programs and programming languages and on good programming practices, rather than on Java-specific issues and applications.

This is a course for high school teachers who intend to teach a programming language in their school. These teachers are expected to have two main objectives: to help their students pass the AP test (currently given in Pascal and C) and to instill good programming habits in those students who will be employed as programmers without benefit of further vocational training. To help teachers meet the first objective, a comparison between Java and C will be provided at the end of the semester; the two languages are very similar, and it is likely that some object-oriented language (Java or C++) will be added to the AP test options soon. To meet the second objective, students will be required to write modular, readable code and work in groups; topics such as the Year 2000 problem, efficiency of algorithms, and security issues in programming will be discussed in class.

As much as possible, this course will parallel Professor Larson's MCS 294 course.

Exams, 50%:  There will be two open-note midterm exams (15% each) and a final exam (20%).

Class Participation, 10%:  Students should be willing to work in groups, assist their peers, and share computer resources fairly. They will be expected to ask questions and to present the results of their work in class discussions, and should not be overly disruptive of lecture or discussion.

Students should bring pencil, paper, and DOS formatted floppy diskette to each class.

Recommended but not required:

Java How to Program examples.

Java in a Nutshell, by David Flanagan.

Java Development Kit from Sun Microsystems