Taking 3 different programming courses fall semester

S

SpeedRunner

Guest
I'm in a situation where I must take 3 programming courses in one semester. The semester starts August 21st, and I want to prepare for it as much as possible. I'm taking Advanced Java (my 3rd Java course), a VB.Net course, and my first of two COBOL courses. In other words, I'm really biting the bullet. I had a hard enough time with my second Java course, I can't imagine what the third one is going to be like. Well anyway, can you guys show me some good resources? I have 3 weeks to prepare for all this.

Here's the syllabus for each course:

NAME OF COURSE: Advanced Java Programming
COURSE PREFIX & NUMBER: CPT 237
CREDITS: 3.0
PREREQUISITES: CPT 244
TEXTBOOK: Corejava 2 Volume 1 - Fundamentals, 7th Edition. by: Horstmann & Cornell. 2004. Prentice Hall Publishers. ISBN#: 0-13-148202-5.

Corejava 2 Volume 2 - Advanced Features, 7th Edition. by: Horstmann & Cornell. 2005. Prentice Hall Publishers. ISBN#: 0-13-111826-9.



COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is a study of advanced topics of the Java pro-
gramming language by building on a basic knowledge of the Java language. Topics
covered will include multi-threading, Swing classes, the Swing events models,
advanced layout managers, the JavaBeans component model, network programming and
serverside programming.



STUDENT COMPETENCIES: Upon successful completion of this course, the student should
be able to perform the following tasks:
1. Read and write Java code that utilizes the following:

·Graphical programming and event handling

·Streams and files

·Applets

·Multithreading fundamentals

·Networking fundamentals

·Database access

·XML

·Distributed objects

·JavaBeans

·Java Security

·Generic data structures

2. Read Java API documentation and implement solutions based on knowledge obtained directly from that documentation.
3. Generate API documentation for student-written classes using the JavaDoc facility.
4. Demonstrate an understanding Unified Modeling Language (UML).
5. Write complex programs in the Java language which correctly apply principles of object oriented design.
6. Read and interpret Java program code, and correctly predict output, given a specific input data set.

CPT-237 uses lecture, class discussion, and individual programming exercises in
order to teach computer-programming skills. The instructor will introduce concepts
in a lecture format, and lead class discussion. Participants apply these concepts in
individually prepared computer programming exercises done outside the classroom.

Participant learning will be assessed by a combination of written examinations,
quizzes, classroom discussion contribution, and individually prepared computer
program solutions. Tests and quizzes will emphasize the writing and/or interpre-
tation of small programs or program fragments, in a traditional paper-and-pencil
format.
Click to expand...

NAME OF COURSE: Event-Driven Programming - Visual Basics
COURSE PREFIX: CPT 185
CREDIT: 3.0
PREREQUISITES: CPT 236
TEXT: Programming in Visual Basic .Net, by: Bradley and Millspaugh. 2003. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Publishers. ISBN#: 0-07-285437-5.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course introduces the student to the development of professional-looking, special purpose Windows applications using the graphical user interface of Windows.

STUDENT COMPETENCIES: Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

1. Build advanced Windows applications in Visual Basic, using Microsoft's .NET Integrated Development Environment.
2. Communicate an understanding of basic operations and control structures.
3. Use deskcheck design logic to verify program accuracy and document procedures in standard format.
Click to expand...

NAME OF COURSE: COBOL Programming I
COURSE PREFIX: CPT 115
CREDIT: 3.0
PREREQUISITES: MAT 100 or MAT 039 and RDG 100
TEXT: Murach’s Mainframe COBOL, by: Murach, Prince,
and Menendez. Murach Publishers.
ISBN#: 1-890774-24-3.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course introduces the nature and use of the common business oriented language--COBOL.

STUDENT COMPETENCIES: Upon completion of this course the student will be able to:


1. Communicate and understanding of basic operations and control structures

2. Use deskcheck design logic to verify program accuracy and document procedures in standard format

3. Understand and use the MOVE statement including numeric-edited

4. Understand and use the Program Control statement

A. IF then ELSE

B. PERFORM

C. PERFORM UNTIL

D. EVALUATE

5. Understand and use Arithmetic statements

6. Understand and use simple input/output file handling

7. Understand tables and implement table handling procedures

8. Understand and use structured logic

9. Understand basic debugging

10.Understand and code COBOL programs:

A. Print Programs

B. Control Break Programs

C. Sequential Update Programs



Achievement of these competencies will be measured by a combination of methods. 20%


**SPECIAL NOTE**

Throughout the course, heavy emphasis is placed on practical use of concepts through numerous programming assignments. Special effort is made to relate the COBOL language to the underlying machine concepts/language that the student gained in pre-requisite courses. This gives the student an advantage over the person who only knows the surface use of the COBOL language.
Click to expand...
 
Why in Tux's Name are you wasting yout time with a COBOL class?
 
Just buy the books and get started. ;o)

[heavy emphasis is placed on practical use... of COBOL!] ;o)

...From Wikipedia:
"The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offence"(from Selected Writings on Computing: A Personal Perspective).
 
doh said:
Why in Tux's Name are you wasting yout time with a COBOL class?
Click to expand...

That's what I'm thinking right now. I must also question what kind of curriculum still teaches COBOL.

Anyway, if you really feel the need to get a jump start, I'd just say get the textbooks and read the beginning chapters (or whatever covers the curriculum). I must have recommended that Core Java book to you several times.
 
doh said:
Why in Tux's Name are you wasting yout time with a COBOL class?
Click to expand...

Suprisingly huge amounts of legacy code (and even some new), and a declining number of knowledgable programmers (especially young/cheap ones) might make it a smart move.

Disclaimers:
1: I don't have any documentation to back up "huge amounts".
2: I don't have any documentation to back "declining number of programmers", either.
 
I question what sort of degree program forces you to take three different languages in the first place (much less during one semester). I'm a senior in CE and the only language I've learned formally is C++ (and touch of x86 assembly).

I taught myself VB back in middle school (although I was missing many of the language-independent programming fundemantals without a formal course) and I taught myself Java during my first week or so at work last summer. I also taught myself SQL and some database fundementals. I skimmed some PHP tutorials to do website maintenance for my job at school and learned VHDL (HDL yes, but it still uses programming language constructs, ripped from Ada) for my internship this summer. No doubt I'll be learning some SystemC or SystemVerilog in the very near future.

I'm not stating that to toot my own horn, but to show that it's common place and expected in the real world. Once you've mastered the idea of programming, it's pretty trivial to pick-up a new language and start working. Obviously it takes effort and time to truly master a language, but a one semester course isn't going to give you that either.

Taking 3 languages in one semester will leave you wasting your time trying to keep one syntax straight from the others.

I'm not questioning you (its not like you want to take three at once) but rather the institution that is making this neccessary.
 
My IT degree with a concentration in Network Apps forced me to take a COBOL class. :/
 
HHunt said:
Suprisingly huge amounts of legacy code (and even some new), and a declining number of knowledgable programmers (especially young/cheap ones) might make it a smart move.

Disclaimers:
1: I don't have any documentation to back up "huge amounts".
2: I don't have any documentation to back "declining number of programmers", either.
Click to expand...

Yes, COBOL is not a widely used language currently, but I do know that a huge amount of legacy business software code is COBOL-based (at least according to that report many years back), and that code needs maintaining. Still, I was more surprised a school has multiple COBOL courses in a more modern curriculum.
 
doh said:
Why in Tux's Name are you wasting yout time with a COBOL class?
Click to expand...

Because I have to. I have 2 Cobol courses to take. I'll take one this fall and one this spring.
 
COBOL is HUGE in Dallas, Tx. University of North Texas almost focused on this completly in the 90's due to the Y2K thing as well as so many large corps using COBOL. Don't know how much use it is anywhere else though...
 
BillLeeLee said:
I must have recommended that Core Java book to you several times.
Click to expand...

Thank you for recommending me Core Java. You may have felt I ignored your recommendation, but that is because I already have the books. ;) They are the textbooks I use for my second and third Java courses.
 
The single greatest Java resource is the Java API. Bookmark it, save it locally, hell, print out a copy and put it under your pillow if you have to. Learn to love it.
 
BillLeeLee said:
I must also question what kind of curriculum still teaches COBOL.
Click to expand...
The same kind of school that teaches "Visual Basics". The best resource I can point you to, SpeedRunner, is Petersen's College Guide. Technical Colleges are for learning to weld, not learning computer science.
 
If you want to do some COBOL programming after graduation, you can look into the banking, or heavy industry(steel). You can use your knowldge of COBOL to get you into some good entry level positions. You could as do some freelance COBOL work.

I programmed COBOL and RPG/II on a IBM S/36/38.
 
Here in the education world, SCT Banner, which is pretty much the dominant educational ERP (I guess that's what it is - it does everything from course scheduling, grading and billing to HR, purchasing and payroll) has scads of Cobol. We don't normally need to touch it, but it's always there, lingering in the shadows, threating to make you understand how it works. Fortunately, most of the stuff in there is old core functionality that's unchanged from version to version (and most places that work with Banner don't make the kind of site mods that we do).
 
If you are majoring in computer science I would suggest transfering to another university. I can't imagine why any CS curiculum would make you take TWO cobol classes, let alone visual basic :rolleyes:

Im starting my 5th semester (3rd year) and am taking:

Software Engineering (C++)
Databases (SQL/PHP)
Algorithms (C++)
Software Documentation

In fact, the ONLY course at my school that teaches COBOL is a 2 credit IS elective
 
Why are your classes language-dependent, CodeX? Why aren't you learning algorithms and software engineering independent of language?
 
mikeblas said:
Why are your classes language-dependent, CodeX? Why aren't you learning algorithms and software engineering independent of language?
Click to expand...

I'm not codex but I could just as easily have posted something that prompted the same question.

Last semester I took our algorithms course. The focus of the course, was of course, algorithms and not the nitty gritty details of implementations. In lectures we would draw diagrams of problems and datastructures (using the right structure is as important if not more so than being a clever coder) and the main focus was that you understood how to tackle the problem and how to bend the box.

The book we had to buy for class (which I only opened 2 or 3 times to look at sample questions) was perl based. The reasoning for this was because, in general, our CS program here is c/c++ and this was supposed to force students to learn independent of the language. However, each of the 10ish programming projects were to be written in c++. The main reasons for this were to allow fair grading, to benchmark student's execution times against eachother, to be able to easily compare the number of lines of code each student turned in (not a useful stat by itself except for outliers.)

Anyways, if anyone had asked me, I would have responded that this was a c++ class. If it had been a possible employer I would tell him/her that we focused on the algorithms and data structures and that c++ was only a means used for grading purposes and to deminstrate each student's implementations.
 
CodeX said:
If you are majoring in computer science I would suggest transfering to another university. I can't imagine why any CS curiculum would make you take TWO cobol classes, let alone visual basic :rolleyes:

Im starting my 5th semester (3rd year) and am taking:

Software Engineering (C++)
Databases (SQL/PHP)
Algorithms (C++)
Software Documentation

In fact, the ONLY course at my school that teaches COBOL is a 2 credit IS elective
Click to expand...

My 3rd year has a couple of those courses. except my algorithms & datastructures class is mostly psuedocode, and then for projtect we implement them uisng whatever language we chose. My databases class doesn't realy go into sql/php, it's more about how databases work underneath the hood.
 
Do you guys know of a decent COBOL compiler? (a free one) so I can start messing with it some...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top