Preparing to move

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

In preparation for the move to using Java 5 in the Cattle Drive, I have updated the pages for the Basic assignments on the test server. I'm wondering if y'all can help me out by looking at them and giving me some feedback -- good or bad.

Start at this page and follow the links to stay on the test server and see all the new pages.

Thanks.

[Katrina Owen]

The indentation is all goofy on the Hello World program...
Please refer to the Style Guide section 1.1

[Carol Murphy]

Java 5???
Just when I thought it was safe to ge back in the water....................

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

Better hurry, Carol. Also coming up is using Tomcat instead of Orion.

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

Originally posted by Katrina Owen:
The indentation is all goofy on the Hello World program...
Please refer to the Style Guide section 1.1

Yeah. That's weird. I don't think I changed anything on those lines, at least not on purpose.

[Pauline McNamara]

Just for info, Macintosh users might find this post helpful:

https://coderanch.com/t/111469/Mac/Java-Missing-Installation-Instructions

It has info about how to point to the SDK version that you want to compile to. (I just needed to refer to it today! ) I think we haven't outlined anything specific for Mac users before, but just in case we do, or if someone asks, that's a good reference.

Thanks marc not-the-grill-weber!

[Pauline McNamara]

I see we're using HF Java, that's fantastic.

There used to be some specific recommendations for which parts of Just Java to read, but those don't seem to be there for HF Java. Is that in the works, or do we leave it up to the student to figure it out?

Just wondering, not sure which I'd prefer...

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

We're sorta figuring that we tell people the basics they need in the links from the assignment page(s) -- at least in the first 8 assignments. So the book is more for reference/additional information. Besides, it's hard to keep up with the page changes in the different editions.

[Pauline McNamara]

That makes sense, I like that. Now I've decided which way I prefer.

[Pauline McNamara]

Here's a nice reference that I just came upon.

Programming with the New Language Features in J2SE 5.0

[Pauline McNamara]

A few random comments after reading only the early pages...

Atomic? I wondered if this was a new way of referring to primitives in java 5 (hence the link above), but it didn't really look like it. Or if it is, maybe it hasn't caught on yet?

Could "atomic" introduce big confusion about the java.util.concurrent.atomic package? That's what I came up with after a quick search, a resource about AtomicInteger. For a raw beginner it seems like it could have the potential be really overwhelming kinda quickly.

The info about conditional branching comes with Java 2 EvenOrOdd. I think maybe that's how it is now. Could it be that it would actually be useful to know already for Hundred 1b?

In command.jsp (for Java 1a Hundred), about halfway down it says, "Now let's turn it into something with purpose and will compile."

Would maybe "Now let's turn it into something with purpose that will compile.", or "...that has purpose and..." be more grammatically correct?

Just a few thoughts from the peanut gallery for now, will try to look through more closely in the next days/weeks. You guys have been busy! Great stuff.

edit, one more before I forget...

On concat.jsp, it says

String s = "Gertrude";

I wonder if this would be a great place to get an early start encouraging really meaningful variable names? (I need to find a devil's advocate emoticon, heh heh.)
[ December 18, 2007: Message edited by: Pauline McNamara ]

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

Originally posted by Pauline McNamara:
Atomic? I wondered if this was a new way of referring to primitives in java 5 (hence the link above), but it didn't really look like it. Or if it is, maybe it hasn't caught on yet?

Could "atomic" introduce big confusion about the java.util.concurrent.atomic package? That's what I came up with after a quick search, a resource about AtomicInteger. For a raw beginner it seems like it could have the potential be really overwhelming kinda quickly.

Good feedback, Pauline. Thanks.

Atomic variables ... I think the idea is like "atomic operation" where "atomic" = an indivisible unit. Probably could stand some clarification since the addition of the atomic variables classes in the java.util.concurrent.atomic package.