As students with previous computer programming experience, you should have some familiarity with the following concepts.  Concepts in bold are core concepts from the previous course, meaning you are expected to know them, or will review them sufficiently on your own.  They will not be discussed in any detail through this course.

1. data types & variables (e.g., integer, float, real, boolean, string, array)
2. operators
   1. assignment (e.g., assigning a value to a variable)
   2. arithmetic (e.g., add, subtract, multiply, divide, modulo, remainder)
   3. logical (e.g., AND, OR, NOT)
   4. relational (e.g., less than, equal to, greater than)
3. selection
   1. if-then-else
   2. case / switch statements
4. repetition
   1. counted / for loops
   2. do / while loops
   3. repeat / until loops
5. functions / procedures / subroutines
6. input & output
7. file operations

For your introduction to Java, your first responsibility will be to review these concepts and put them into the context of Java.  As is the case with all programming languages, the concepts generally transfer quite easily, and the details can be obtained from some sort of reference document.

In additition to changes in syntax (i.e., the exact form of commands required for Java), there are also some fundamental concepts that must be covered.  Java is an object-oriented language, which will require you to learn about objects, classes, methods, inheritance, and many other new concepts.

As you learn about Java and review past concepts, you may wish to refer to last year's course notes from ICS3M.  The programming language was Turing, but most of the concepts should transfer easily to Java.

1. Introduction to Object-Oriented Concepts

Pay particular attention to the concepts of object, class, and inheritance.  We will discuss the other topics at a future date as needed.

2. Java Language Basics & Review of ICS3M Concepts

By the end of this (long) lesson, you will have reviewed and practised most of the core concepts from your previous course.  Copy and paste each example of code into DrJava.  DrJava was selected as the simplest and most student-friendly IDE (integrated development environment).  It is free and available for download from http://drjava.org/, and a QuickStart Guide is provided if you encounter any difficulties with your initial attempts to use it.

The following topics will likely be new and possibly confusing.  Do not spend any significant time trying to absorb them.  The goal is to refresh your memory on familiar topics, and then we will address new topics (as necessary) in more detail later in the course.

Omit the following (for now):

• Variables --> kinds of variables
• Primitive Data Types --> literals
• Arrays --> copying arrays
• Equality, Relational, and Conditional Operators --> The Type Comparison Operator instanceof
• Bitwise and Bitshift Operators
• Branching Statements

Some additional, free, online resources:

• Programming Using Java - online text for beginning programmers