Getting Started with Programming, OO and Java Basics for Non-Developers

Fundamentals of the Program Development Cycle

• Computer Architecture
• The Notion of Algorithms
• Source Code vs. Machine Code
• Compile-Time vs. Run-Time
• Software Program Architecture
• Standalone
• Client/Server
• Distributed
• Web-Enabled
• IDE (Interactive Development Environment) Concepts

Application Development Fundamentals

• Structure of a Java Program
• Memory Concepts
• Fundamental Data Type Declarations
• Fundamental I/O Concepts
• Fundamental Operators
• Arithmetic Operators
• Logical Operators
• Precedence and Associativity
• Building and Deploying a Java Program

Introduction to Classes and Objects

• Classes, Objects and Methods
• Object Instances
• Declaring and Instantiating a Java Object
• Declaring Methods
• set and get Methods
• Initiating Objects with Constructors
• Primitive Types vs. Reference Types

Flow Control

• Conditional Constructs
• Looping Constructs
• Counter-Controlled Repetition
• Sentinel-Controlled Repetition
• Nested Control Constructs
• break and continue Statements
• Structured Programming Best Practices

Writing Methods (Functions)

• Static vs. Dynamic Allocation
• Declaring Methods
• Declaring Methods with Multiple Parameters
• Method-Call Stack
• Scope of Declarations
• Argument Promotion and Casting
• Designing Methods for Reusability
• Method Overloading

Arrays

• Purpose of Arrays
• Declaring and Instantiating Arrays
• Passing Arrays to Methods
• Multidimensional Arrays
• Variable-Length Argument Lists
• Using Command-Line Arguments
• Using Environment Variables

Deeper Into Classes and Objects

• Controlling Access to Class Members
• Referencing the Current Object Using this
• Overloading Constructors
• Default and No-Argument Constructors
• Composition of Classes
• Garbage Collection and Destructors
• The finalize Method
• Static Class Members

Defining Classes Using Inheritance

• Superclasses and Subclasses
• Advantages of Using Inheritance
• protected Class Members
• Constructors in Subclasses

Increasing Convenience by Using Polymorphism

• Purpose of Polymorphic Behavior
• The Concept of a Signature
• Abstract Classes and Methods
• final Methods and Classes
• Purpose of Interfaces
• Using and Creating Interfaces
• Common Interfaces of the Java API

Files and Streams

• Concept of a Stream
• Class File
• Sequential Access
• Object Serialization to/from Sequential Access Files
• Additional java.io Classes

Fundamental Searching and Sorting

• Introduction to Searching Algorithms
• Linear Search
• Binary Search
• Introduction to Sorting Algorithms
• Selection Sort
• Insertion Sort
• Merge Sort

Fundamental Data Structures

• Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Linked Lists
• Stacks
• Queues
• Trees

Exception Handling

• Types of Exceptions
• Exception Handling Overview
• Exception Class Hierarchy
• Extending Exception Classes
• When to Throw or Assert Exceptions

Formatted Output

• printf Syntax
• Conversion Characters
• Specifying Field Width and Precision
• Using Flags to Alter Appearance
• Printing Literals and Escape Sequences
• Formatting Output with Class Formatter

Strings, Characters and Regular Expressions

• Fundamentals of Characters and Strings
• String Class
• String Operations
• StringBuilder Class
• Character Class
• StringTokenizer Class
• Regular Expressions
• Regular Expression Syntax
• Pattern Class
• Matcher Class

Fundamental GUI Programming Concepts

• Overview of Swing Components
• Displaying Text and Graphics in a Window
• Event Handling with Nested Classes
• GUI Event Types and Listener Interfaces
• Mouse Event Handling
• Layout Managers

This hands-on course focuses on ‘learning by doing’, combining expert lecture, practical demonstrations and group discussions with plenty of machine-based real-world programming labs and exercises. Student machines are required.