Introduction to Programmingwith Java, for Beginners

Welcome

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Course Information Instructor:

Diana Palsetia (palsetia@seas.upenn.edu)

Teaching Assistants: Junshi Lu (jlu2@seas.upenn.edu) Yu Tazawa (ytazawa@seas.upenn.edu) Andrew Xue (andrewx@seas.upenn.edu)

Meeting Times: MWTR: 1-2 pm in Moore 207 TR: 10-12 pm in Moore 207 F: 2-4pm in Moore 204 (Robotics/Engineering Lab)

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Our Web Site

This site is our primary communication vehicle:

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/~pfpcse

Become familiar with it! :) Visit the Resources page

For homework/lab work submission (BlackBoard)

https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu

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Logistics

Attendance Required: daily lecture/lab Optional: office hours, quiz review sessions

Grades Attendance and participation: 10% Labwork: 20% Homework:30% Quizzes: 40% (2-3 quizzes)

Late Policy for labwork and homework: 20% off up to 24 hrs.

No makeup quizzes are scheduled. Conflict? Schedule in advance

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Computer Science (CS) Computer Programming is sub-field of Computer

Science

It involves learning how to translate a complex problem/simulation/game in to a computing solution

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Computing Examples

Information SecurityUser informationAssurance

Digital Special Effects

Databases

High Performance Simulation

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Computing Formal Definition:

The use of a computer process data or perform calculations

Early computers were people

Advancement in electronics enabled computing devices that were faster than man

Copyright:

http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/cswa/history/pick.html

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CS in General

Computer Science is the study of What we can do with computers?

Automate a known solution How we can best do it Investigate things we don’t know

Example: The Blue Brain Project by EPFL & IBM started in July 2005

• Understand the brain function and dysfunction to solve intractable problems in mental health and neurological disease.

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Three themes in Computing Modularity

Break big problems into simpler sub-problems Solve big problems by composing the solutions of

the sub-problems

Algorithmically Having a finite list of well-defined instructions for

accomplishing some task

Abstraction Find common features and express solutions in

terms of those features

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How does CS fit with Engineering?

Computer Science partners well with many fields: finance, engineering, graphics, linguistics, genetics, multimedia, etc.

Its theoretical foundation lies in mathematics Discrete math, probability, and statistics and logic

Another foundational in electrical engineering Building block is electronic hardware (computer

architecture)

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Computer Programming & Programming Languages

Computer Programming Is telling the computer how to do something Wikipedia Definition: Applies specific programming

languages to solve specific computational problems with solutions

Programming Languages Unlike human languages

Designed for instructing computers to solve problemsThe listener (the compiler) is exacting &

unforgiving (grr!)

Like human languagesThey have a grammar that has evolved

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Programming Language Syntax

Syntax is the grammar of the language The Listener a.k.a Compiler will point out

every syntax errorE.g. Baking Cake Recipe: Preheat Oven

missing temperature

Error messages may be helpfulOften, they are notYou gain experience with error messages after a

while

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Program When you write a computational solution in a

programming language it is known as Writing a program E.g. Directions from point A to point B

When you ask the computer to carry out your solution it is known as Running or Executing a program E.g. Actually traveling from point A to point B

Computer Software Is made of one or more programs

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Semantics Semantics is the meaning of the program

We learn the semantics after we run or execute the program Basically we observe the output

After the executing program, the semantics of the program may or may be correct

Semantic errors cause your answers to be wrong E.g. Baking a Cake Recipe: Add the juice of three onions

Compiler does not find anything wrong with the above statement

You may or may not get error messages E.g. Error Message – Dividing a number by zero

If your program is not doing what you want it to do, though it runs, the error is semantic

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Programming -The Craft People have different tastes in programming, but

many values are held in common

Programming is an art as well as a craft

There are concepts fundamental to all programming languages We will practice the fundamentals using Programming

Language called Java Java also has additional feature called Object Oriented

Programming (OOP) model Design problems/programs such that they

correspond to real world entities