AP Computer Science A (Java)

• Introduction to the "computer" as a programmable computing device
• Overview on how a computer works:
• The computer memory and the binary number system

  ---

• Introduction of computer program/algorithm:
• What does a computer program contain?:

• The process of writing computer programs --- what is going on behind the scenes
• Installing the BlueJ Integrated Development Environment:

• Hello.java - Everyone's first Java program:
• How to compile and run a Java program with BleuJ (demo interactively):

• Writing a simple Java program that compute area of a circle:
• Java input and output:
• Defining variables, Identifiers and Primitive data types (include boolean):

  ---

• Arithmetic operations and short hand operators:
  • Assign homework 1:
• Mixed data type operations:

  ---

• Named constants and naming convention:
• Misc topics: (1) cascaded assignment,   (2) swap variables

• Conditions, boolean data type, boolean variables and boolean expressions:
• if-statements: (1) one-way if-statement and (2) one-way if-statement
• Advanced if-statements: (1) nested if-statement and (2) multi-way if-statement
  • Assign homework 2:

  ---

• Some common errors made with if-statements:

• Generating random numbers + making a subtraction quiz:
  • Assign homework 3:

  ---

• Logical operators (!, &&, ||)
• Case study using logical operators - leap year
• The switch statement Jason (2)
• The conditional expression (? :)

• Operator precedence and operator associativity

• Java's Math class:
  • Assign homework 4:

  ---

Chapter 4b: Characters and Strings

• The char primitive data type:
• Advanced usage of char data in Java programs:

• Into to instance methods using the String class:
  • Assign homework 5:

  ---

  • Java's methods: instance methods and static methods:
• Advanced usage of String data in Java programs:
  • Assign homework 6:

  ---

• Mixing operations with String and string input:
• Converting number strings into integers or float/double

• Introduction:
• The while-loop:
  • Assign homework 7:

  ---

• The do-while-loop:
• The for-loop:
• Some example programs using loops (GCD and prime factoring):
• Nested loops:
  • Assign homework 8:

  ---

• The break and continue statements:
• More example programs using loops (palindrome test and prime number test):

• Introduction:
• Defining a method:
  • Assign homework 9:

  ---

• Program control when calling a method + activation record:
• Passing arguments by value - what happens when you update a parameter ?:
• Modular programming - how to use methods to package code together that perform a useful task:
• Overloading methods - how Java picks the method to invoke:
  • Assign homework 10:

  ---

• The scope of a local variable:
• Program development through stepwise refinement:
  • Assign homework 11:

  ---

• Intro to recursion:
• How a recursive method works - computing factorial of n recursively:
• Solving problems with recursion:
• Writing a recursive isPalindrome() method:
  • Assign homework 12:

  ---

• Improving program efficiency: recursive helper methods:
  • The private modifier:
• Solving a complex problem with recursion - the Tower of Hanoi problem:
• Recursion vs iteration (loop):
  • Assign homework 13:

  ---

• Introduction to array:
• Array basics:
  • Defining and using (accessing) array elements:
  • Processing data stored in arrays:
    • Assign homework 14:

    ---

  • The for-each loop access array elements:
• Using an array to represent a deck of cards:
  • Assign homework 15:

  ---

• Copying arrays:
• Extending the size of an array:

• Passing arrays as arguments to methods:
• Methods with variable number of arguments in Java:
• Returning an array from a method:
  • Assign homework 16:

  ---

• Searching arrays:
• Sorting arrays:
  • The selection sort algorithm:
  • The insertion sort algorithm:
  • The merge sort algorithm: (My material on Chapter 23.4)
    • Merging 2 sorted arrays:
    • The merge sort algorithm:
  • The running time of the sorting algorithms:

• Java's Arrays class with useful array methods:
• The command line argument of the main( ) method:
  • Assign homework 17:

  ---

• Arrays used in Mathematics:

• Introduction to 2-dimensional arrays:
• 2-dimensional array basics:
  • Defining and using 2-dimensional arrays:
  • Processing data stored in 2-dimensional arrays:
• Passing a 2-dimensional array to a method:
  • Assign homework 18:

  ---

• 2-dimensional arrays used in Mathematics:

• Intro to object oriented programming
• Defining classes and creating objects with classes:
  • Assign homework 19:

  ---

• Constructors of a class:

• Accessing object via reference variables:
  • No homework:

  ---

• The this reference variable:

• Copying object:
• The copy constructor of a class:

• Array of objects:
• Intro to Object Oriented Programming - implementing a deck of cards
  • Assign homework 20:

  ---

• Using classes from the Java Library:

• The default visibility (accessibility) modifier:
  • Assign homework 21:

  ---

• Data field encapsulation:
• Immutable objects and the classes used to make them:

• Passing objects to methods:
  • Assign homework 22:

  ---

• Static variables (and constants) and static methods:

• Intro to the ArrayList class in Java's utilities library:
• Adding (= inserting) new elements into an ArrayList object (and automatic arraylist size adaptation):
  • Assign homework 23:

  ---

• Searching for elements in an ArrayList object:
• Replacing/Removing elements in/from an ArrayList object and other useful methods:
• Summary: similarities and differences between an array and an arraylist:

• Helper methods for Lists:

• Assign homework 24:

• Processing primitive data type as objects:

  ---

• Automatic conversion between a primitive type and its wrapper class:
• The BigInteger and BigDecimal classes (arbitrary length numbers):
  • No homework

• Introduction to inheritance: Rex
• The Object Oriented Design methodology (superclass and subclass):
• Program design using the Object Oriented Design methodology:

• Relationship between superclass and subclass and their constructors:
• Invoking methods in the superclass from inside a subclass:
• Overriding vs. overloading:

• The Object class and its toString() method:

• Polymorphism:
• Application of polymorphism:

• Upcasting and downcasting object references:
• The protected accessibility classfier:
• Preventing a class from being extended by other classes:

• Abstract classes:
• Interfaces:
• Java's Comparable interface:

• Multiple Choice questions 1-10:
• Multiple Choice questions 11-20: