Welcome to Programming 1 (or Object Oriented Programming, if you’re doing that!)
The aim of the module is to provide a foundation for all programming activities that follow in subsequent years of your course. We do not assume that you have previous experience of programming; we start from the very beginning. We try to develop your ability to break problems down and “think like a programmer” before we break your brain with complex programming languages and more advanced concepts.
There is a misconception that programming is “hard” or “boring”. My job is to persuade you that it’s not. We try to make the material as engaging and fun as possible and we make use of our own homegrown NoobLab environment to do so.
Students doing Object Oriented Programming will do the units Thinking Like A Programmer and Programming in JavaScript with Paul before Christmas. They will then go off to do C++ with Ahmed.
Students doing Programming 1 will do four out of five possible units. At the end of Thinking Like A Programmer we will take a look at your progress. You will then be allocated into either Team Skywalker or Team Solo. This will then determine which units you will do as follows:
During Enrichment Activity Week (week 6 of term) I will look at the progress of the Programming 1 students. Those of you who have demonstrated an aptitude for the material in Thinking Like A Programmer will join Team Skywalker and will focus more on Java with on Object Oriented principles in the latter part of the module. Those of you who need a little more support will not do as much Java, and you’ll look at Web application programming instead as a member of Team Solo. Both routes through the module carry the same assessment weight and will set you up for Programming 2 in the second year. What we want to do is to give everyone the best possible chance of success, and the best possible chance to maximise their potential.
How the module will be taught
I believe strongly that the only way to learn programming is to actually roll your sleeves up and get on and write some programs! You cannot break the computer by trying things out and one of the things I will try and teach you early on is that errors are your friend! Errors teach us new things. So don’t be afraid of errors in your code.
Each week there will be a lecture and a supervised workshop. The lectures will teach you about certain programming concepts, and then in the workshop you’ll undertake practical programming exercises designed to both test and help reinforce your understanding of these concepts.
We will make use of NoobLab, our home-grown online learning environment, for all of our practical exercises. NoobLab will give you feedback and hints about your code and try to help you find your way to correct solutions. For each successful exercise you complete you will win a medal. Your medals are tallied together on a cohort-wide high score table – can you make it to the top?
We want you to work hard – and some of you will have to! – but we also want it to be fun, too. We emphasise a hands-on approach to learning programming and that is the key. Try things out, see what happens. You will not ever be told how to do something step by step – you will have to think for yourself!
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