Computer Laboratory – Course material 2009–10: Paper 1: Object-Oriented Programming

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Paper 1: Object-Oriented Programming

Lecturers: Dr R.K. Harle and Dr A.F. Blackwell

No. of lectures: 9

Companion courses: Software Design, Programming in Java

Aims

This course will run in parallel with the Programming in Java practical course. It is intended to provide both an introduction to Java that complements the practical workbooks and to highlight the abstract notion of object-oriented programming. Examples and discussions will use Java primarily, but other languages may be used to illustrate specific points where appropriate.

Syllabus

Computer fundamentals. High-level view of a computer. Memory management in brief. Pointers and their uses. The notion of a JVM. The notion of objects. References. Practicalities of creating and running a Java program. Java and garbage collection. [1 lecture]
Object-oriented programming (OOP). Evolution of OOP. Java as a pure OO language. The OO design process. Identifying objects. Modularity. Encapsulation. Data hiding. Inheritance. Constructors and destructors. Polymorphic behaviour and its uses. Examples in Java. [3 lectures]
Java class libraries and design patterns. Overview of commonly used structures in the class library. Extending a standard structure. Finding documentation. [2 lectures]
Design patterns and design examples. Introduction to design patterns. Applying design patterns to example problems. Design patterns in the Java class library. Examples of building a Java program from problem statement to testing. [2 lectures]
Common Java errors. The need for care with syntax. Numerical overflow and other common problems. [1 lecture]

Objectives

At the end of the course students should

understand the principles of OOP;
be able to demonstrate good object-oriented programming skills in Java;
understand the capabilities and limitations of Java;
be able to describe, recognise, apply and implement selected design patterns in Java;
be familiar with common errors in Java and its associated libraries.

Recommended reading

No single text book covers all of the topics in this course. For those new to OOP, the best introductions are usually found in the introductory programming texts for OOP languages (such as Java, python or C++). Look for those that are for people new to programming rather than those that are designed for programmers transitioning between languages (the Deitel book is highlighted for this reason). The web is also a very useful resource -- look for Java tutorials.

* Deitel, H.M. & Deitel, P.J. (2003). Java: How to Program. Prentice Hall.
Flanagan, D. (2005). Java in a nutshell : a desktop quick reference. O'Reilly (5th ed.).
Flanagan, D. (2004). Java examples in a nutshell : a tutorial companion to Java in a nutshell. O'Reilly (3rd ed.).
Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R. & Vlissides, A. (1995). Design patterns: elements of reusable object-oriented software. Addison-Wesley.
Bloch, J. & Gafter, N. (2005). Java puzzlers. Addison-Wesley.

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