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Teaching Object-Oriented Concepts Through GUI Programming

Teaching Object-Oriented Concepts Through GUI Programming. Jesse M. Heines Martin J. Schedlbauer Dept. of Computer Science Univ. of Massachusetts Lowell. Eleventh Workshop on Pedagogies and Tools for the Teaching and Learning of Object Oriented Concepts ECOOP, Berlin, Germany, 30 July 2007.

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Teaching Object-Oriented Concepts Through GUI Programming

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  1. Teaching Object-Oriented Concepts Through GUI Programming Jesse M. Heines Martin J. Schedlbauer Dept. of Computer ScienceUniv. of Massachusetts Lowell Eleventh Workshop on Pedagogies and Tools for the Teaching and Learning of Object Oriented Concepts ECOOP, Berlin, Germany, 30 July 2007

  2. The OOP Teaching Field • The Starting Line • Introducing OO concepts • Working OO examples • CS 1 and CS 2

  3. The OOP Teaching Field • The Starting Line • Introducing OO concepts • Working OO examples • CS 1 and CS 2 • The Finish Line • Applying OO concepts • Solving programming problems • Advanced courses

  4. The OOP Workshop Field • 3 papers dealing with “Beginners,” “CS1&2,” and “Novice Programmers” • Schmolitzky • Späh and Schmolitzky • Ma, Ferguson, Roper, and Wood • 2 papers on “Objects First” • Ehlert and Schulte • Shümmer and Kösters • 2 papers on applying OO concepts • Hadar and Hadar • Heines and Schedlbauer

  5. The OOP Cognitive Field • Our experience is that regardless of how and when OO concepts are introduced, students have trouble applying those concepts in project-based courses • Why? • Lack of experience with large programs • The real benefits of OO are difficult to see in the small programs typically used as examples • Consequently, OO concepts do become part of the student’s cognitive field and programming style • “I need an object” instead of “I need a routine”

  6. OOP in Class vs. at Work • Small programsLarge programs • 100s of lines  1000s of lines • StandaloneHierarchies builtprogramsusing previous code • Single files  Linked modules • Coded soloCoded in teams • Code is never  Documentation is documented absolutely required • Never reusedReused repeatedly • By self or others  By self and others

  7. OOP and GUI Programming • Excellent examples of class hierarchies • Java Swing and .NET • Students learn just by browsing • Excellent tools for large programs • NetBeans, Eclipse, Visual Studio, BlueJ • Form designers and code generators • (Mostly) excellent documentation • Using the API is a critical skill • Creating an API is even more critical • Model for student-created documentation

  8. OOP and GUI Programming • Inclusion of design patterns • Observers = MVC architecture & listeners • Strategies = layout managers • Composites = UI components & containers • Decorators = scroll panes and borders • Singletons = calendars • Factories = borders • Commands = menus

  9. Lecture: Building Bridges • Problem:Set the text of the root node of an existingJTree control • Subproblem: There is no method of the JTreeobject to set a node’s text • Solution: Build a bridge from the control’s model • This requires understanding relationshipsbetween objects

  10. Lecture: Building Bridges • Step 1: Create a new root node DefaultMutableTreeNode root = new DefaultMutableTreeNode ( "New Text" ); • Step 2: Get reference to the tree model TreeModel myTM = myJTree.getModel(); • Step 3: Cast the tree model reference DefaultTreeModel myDTM =(DefaultTreeModel) myTM; • Step 4: Set the tree root myDTM.setRoot( root );

  11. Lecture: Building Bridges • Note that this is a very practical problem with code generators • For example, NetBeans always calls the default JTreeconstructor myJTree = new JTree(); • One could write “post-creation” code to set the root node text, but this is a static change, not a dynamic one • Thus, this problem forces students to use the API and think about the objects involved and their relationships

  12. Assignment: Object Comm. • Problem:Pass data from a custom dialog box (JFrame) to its parent class • Subproblem: Default member variable access method is private • Solutions: • Change access method • Use Component.getParent()method • Pass reference to parent in overloaded constructor

  13. Exam: FocusTraversalPolicy • Center questions around a concept that students are familiar with (focus traversal), but a class that students have not worked with • Actual questions are in Figure 5 in paper • 7 questions address 5 OOP areas • Human Factors Issues • Use of the API • Deprecated Code • Class Relationships • Application of the concept

  14. Additional Information • Course websites • Lecture notes, assignments, and examples • teaching.cs.uml.edu/~heines • See courses 91.461 and 91.462 on the Teaching page • Contact us • heines@cs.uml.edu • mschedlb@cs.uml.edu • Our websites • http://www.cs.uml.edu/~heines • http://www.cs.uml.edu/~mschedlb

  15. Thank You Jesse M. Heines, Ed.D. Martin J. Schedlbauer, Sc.D. Dept. of Computer Science Univ. of Massachusetts Lowell

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