Course pages 2012–13
Paper 1: Object-Oriented Programming
Lecturer: Dr R.K. Harle
No. of lectures: 11
Suggested hours of supervisions: 4
Companion practical course: Programming in Java
Aims
This course runs 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
- Hardware Refresher. Fetch-execute cycle. Registers. System
Architectures. Imperative languages as closer to the hardware. The
JVM idea. [1/2 lecture]
- Programmer’s Model of Memory. Primitive
Types. Pointers. References. Pass-by-value and
pass-by-reference. Reference Types. [1/2 lecture]
- OOP Concepts. Objects vs classes. Identifying
objects. Distinguishing state and behaviour. UML class
diagrams. Modularity. Encapsulation. Inheritance. Casting. Polymorphism. Abstract
Classes. Multiple inheritance. Java interfaces. Representing
class-level data. Exceptions in brief. [3 lecture]
- Lifecycle of an Object. Constructors. Destructors. Garbage
Collection. [1/2 lecture]
- Copying Objects. Copy constructors. Cloning in
Java. Cloneable as a marker interface in Java. [1/2 lecture]
- Comparing Objects. Comparing primitive types. Comparing
reference types. Comparable and Comparator in Java. [1 lecture]
- Templates and Generics. Java Collections framework as
motivation. Examples of generic programming. [1 lecture]
- 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]
- Case studies.
- Common Java errors.
The need for care with syntax. Numerical overflow and other common
problems. [if time allows]
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. (2009). Java: How to Program. Prentice Hall (8th ed.).
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.