Basics of programming in Java for schoolchildren.

PROCESSING - JAVA for
{
schoolchildren,
students,
scientists,
artists and
designers
}
Detailed tutorial

Java (Java ) is one of the most popular programming languages ​​in the world. In worldwide network You can easily find many tables, charts, surveys and opinions showing the relative popularity of programming languages.

They are certainly different from each other, but Java And C-sharp are always and invariably present in the top ranks of popularity ratings. And this is even more true when it comes to “educational” languages ​​that are used to teach programming. Then to Java And C-sharpoo can be added Python, but this programming language is not very popular in Russia.

Leading position Me you V modern world easy to explain:

· Programs written in Java, work under the control of almost everyone operating systems: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, Apple Mac OS And Android.

· Second dignity Me you follows from the first: programs can work on desktop computers, and on laptops, and on laptops, and on tablets, and on smartphones, and on mobile phones. According to the developers of this programming language, programs written in Java, run on billions of devices around the world!

· On Java you can write programs for various purposes: gaming, graphic, multimedia, scientific, educational, for working with databases and for Internet…

· Since its birth, a programming language Java actively used in training programming, since its syntax is quite simple and similar to the syntax of such classical programming languages ​​as WITH And C++, but at the same time in Java Some difficult-to-understand constructs and elements characteristic of them are absent (for example, pointers and explicit memory allocation for arrays), which makes it easier to both learn the language and develop programs in it. Besides, Java fully supports modern object-oriented paradigm and at the same time allows you to write programs in a simple, procedural style and even functional. Thus, Java- multi-paradigm programming language. For novice programmers, it is especially important that the compiler Me you gives safe code, unlike many other programming languages: WITH, C++, pascal or Delphi .

However, we should not forget that the programming language Java intended primarily for professional software developers, so learning it is not at all easy. And for novice programmers, a special programming language has been developed Processing , learning to program in which is no more difficult than in BASIC or pascal.

Processing can be imagined as a kind of superstructure over Java, making it easier to learn this programming language and develop programs in it.

The most simple program in the languageProcessingconsists of only one lines, which means that from the first lesson you will be able to write own programs! All source program translatorProcessingtranslates into language Java. And you yourself as you learn the languageProcessingyou will be able to use almost all the powerful potential in your programs Me you. And vice versa, in programs written in “pure” Java, easy to use, for example, the graphical capabilities of the languageProcessing. Thus, Processing provides you with an easy start to learning a professional programming language Me you!

Processing allows you to write programs quickly and easily. It’s not for nothing that all projects in this language are called sketches, that is sketches, and are stored in a folder called album. These may indeed be "drafts" large programs or parts thereof, which will then require only minor tweaking in a professional development environment likeEclipse or NetBeans. But also on the tongue Processing you can write completely complete, independent, fully functional programs and applets, numerous examples of which can be found on the Internet.

Applet Dragon Tail 3D from the site www. openprocessing. org

But ProcessingNot only the best remedy for teaching programming, but also a powerful tool for scientists, artists, designers – for everyone who needs computer graphics and interactive multimedia programs. These specialists, whose interests are quite far from programming, no longer need to spend a long time and painstakingly studying all the intricacies of programming in Java - Processingprovides them with everything they need for scientific and artistic activities, and with the help of additional tools and libraries, language capabilitiesProcessing limited only by their imagination!

Just look at the amazing work of Jared Tarbell ( J ared Tarbell, see fig. below) to verify this. Moreover, these paintings are not drawn by the artist’s hand, but are constructed according to more or less simple mathematical formulas.

Works by Jared Tarbell

In his book Mat Pearson gives an example of a program consisting of only 24 lines of code that, each time it runs, prints new drawing.

Works by Mat Pearson

By the way, the previous pictures were obtained using random(randomized) algorithms that add “interference” and “noise” to the main drawing.

Random Algorithms gave rise to a new direction in art, which is called Generative Art (GenArt ). Artists working in this genre are called algorithmists(algorithmic artists, artists).

It's hard to believe, but these images were obtained using simple geometric shapes: points, straight and curved lines, ellipses and rectangles.

This book will help you quickly learn the basics of programming and computer graphics, and you will be able to draw beautiful patterns, solve problems, write games and develop on your own computer models in biology, physics, chemistry.

Second book - Computer games, simulators and models: Visual programming in the language P rocessing/ J ava - shows on numerous projects how to do this in practice.

Start learning programming with Java! You will become familiar with the language Java programming, learn the rules for creating a program on Java language and the structure of such a program. You will learn to work with variables and basic algorithmic constructions. Once you've learned the basics of object-oriented programming and the basics of computer graphics in the Java language, you'll begin independent work With graphic images. During the course, you will create a computer game “New Year's Rain” with different difficulty levels!

Attention! To successfully complete this course, prior preparation is required. If you have not taken the course preliminary preparation, you need to make sure you are sufficiently prepared for the course. Complete the activity below to test your knowledge. If you can handle it, you can safely sign up for the course.

Assignment to check the level of preparation for the course

1. Create a directory named proj on drive C:
2. Copy any file from the flash drive to the previously created proj directory on drive C:
3. Open a text editor (Word, Notepad - any of those you have worked with/used). Create a new one text file and save it to the C:\proj directory with the name file.txt
4. Open the file you created earlier called file.txt in text editor. Enter any text and save the file.
5. Copy the previously saved file.txt to the USB flash drive.

• Basic computer training. Windows 10/8.1. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2016/2013 (for schoolchildren)
• Basic computer training. Windows 10/8.1. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint 2016/2013 (for high school students)

• Java is one of the four most popular programming languages ​​in the world! Anyone who owns it will not be left without work!
• Knowing Java, you can create almost anything: applications for desktop operating systems Windows systems, Linux, Mac OS, mobile applications for Android, websites.
• An excellent start for beginners, instills a culture of programming!
• During classes, students create a computer game, which is very interesting for children and teenagers!
• As various studies show, the salaries of Java programmers are 30-40% higher than the market average

Bookshelf: Today the conversation is more substantive - a review of several books, the level of presentation of which is quite accessible to teenagers who are interested in programming. The books are not arranged in order of my subjective rating or personal preferences, but randomly. I will be glad to receive comments, discussions and recommendations for literature that is not included in this list (which, by the way, is not that long).

1. Java Programming for Children, Parents, and Grandparents. Author Yakov Fain.

It is clear from the title that the book is positioned as the first textbook for a beginner. The language being studied is Java. In the preface, the author states the approximate age at which one can start learning to program is 11 years old. In my opinion, this is, of course, a little early, but from the age of 12-13 you can already start mastering Java, especially under the supervision of a teacher. The book was first published in 2004 on English language. In 2011 it was translated into Russian, the text was subject to correction, additions and changes.

The first part of the book explains the basic principles of working in the Eclipse IDE, then the author moves on to the basics of object-oriented programming and explains concepts such as class and object, then the basic constructs of the Java language are studied. It also explains concepts such as applets, exceptions, streams, and reading data from files. The book examines several examples and gives practical tasks, links to materials for further reading (though in English). The book is well designed. Volume - just over 200 pages.

Overall subjective rating - 4 out of 5.

2. C# for schoolchildren. Tutorial. By M. Dreyer.

Martin Dreyer's book was published in 2011. By the way, it is distributed freely, its text is available on the Microsoft website. The author is currently developing software, but was a former school teacher. The book is intended for readers 12-16 years old.

Used as a learning environment Microsoft Visual C# Express Edition. From the very first pages of the book, the concepts of class and object are introduced. It explains in a fun way why these concepts are needed and how to use them. Next, we introduce the concept of a method and also explain what inheritance is.

The next part of the book is devoted to learning the basic principles of working with Windows Forms.

In the last part teaching aid briefly explains what XML is and also gives introductory information about what databases are.

In general, the impression from the book is twofold. On the one hand, the basics of the object-oriented approach in programming are explained quite interestingly, but on the other hand, everything else is given in a very crumpled manner, and it is not clear why this was done. The total volume of the book is only 120 pages.

Overall subjective rating: 2.5 out of 5.

3. Entertaining programming: Visual Basic. A book for children, parents and teachers.Authors S. Simonovich, G. Evseev

It was published a long time ago, in 2001. The stated age of readers is 12-15 years. The book is positioned as a self-instruction manual; the material is presented in such a way that even a beginner should master the proposed topics on his own.

At the beginning of the book, a brief historical excursion is made, which tells how and when computers appeared, in a very simple examples It explains what programming is, what types of programming languages ​​there are, when they were born and why they are different. Further we're talking about O different approaches in programming, explains what procedural programming is and how object-oriented programming differs from it.

Then the authors move on to explaining the basics of programming in Microsoft Visual Basic, simultaneously explaining how information is stored on a computer, how it works file system. Gradually created programs become more complex, new components and some language constructs are added.

In general, the information is given in great detail, but unfortunately, in the form of “they put a button here,” they wrote “something there.” In my opinion, there is a missing part that would describe the basics of the language itself, without focusing on the visual component.

The total volume of the book is 300 pages.

In general, given the age of the book, as well as the style of presentation, the subjective rating is 3 out of 5.

4. Entertaining programming. Self-instruction manual. Author M. Mozgovoy.

Published in 2005. This book does not cover any programming language; in fact, it is a collection of problems from various fields of knowledge. It is assumed that the reader is already familiar with the basics of programming, and has already gained experience in programming and knows how to solve typical tasks (such as sorting and the like). Examples of solutions in the book are given in the Object Pascal language.

The main topics covered in this book are modeling of certain physical processes, animation, three-dimensional graphics, labyrinths, data compression, and graphs. I think that these topics will be of interest to those who are truly interested in programming and have already gained some experience. Since quite complex topics are discussed, I think the target audience of this book will be high school students and elementary students.

The total volume of the book is 200 pages.

Subjective rating - 4 out of 5, but it is worth remembering that the book is not fully a textbook on programming.

5. How to program in C++.By H. M. Deitel, P. J. Deitel.

Another book that was not originally intended as a textbook for teenagers. However, I have placed this book in this review, because it captivates with its structure and detailed presentation of the material (more than 1000 pages!). The book has already gone through five editions. There's everything from introductory chapters on what a computer is to the standard template library and UML basics.

At the end of each chapter there are the following subsections - “terminology”, “ typical mistakes programming", " good style programming", "tips for increasing efficiency", "notes on programming techniques", "self-test exercises". Tasks for each chapter are given at three levels of difficulty - simple, advanced and increased complexity.

The book has more than 20 chapters.

In my opinion, this book can be completely used as a self-instruction manual. Who can I recommend this publication to? I think it is quite suitable for high school students (grades 10-11), although the book will also be useful for students.

However, given the number of pages and the relative complexity of the material presented, I give a subjective rating of 3.5 out of 5.

6. Programming from zero to... Tutorial for children.Author A.A. Galakhov.

This book is not in my collection, so I can only quote the description I found from the Internet:

“This book is an introductory programming course intended for schoolchildren and students who want to learn the basics of this art. Although it deals with quite complex things, it is written in a simple and accessible language. Moreover, to simplify the development of the material presented, the author offers his own add-on for the popular programming language Turbo Pascal - Russian Pascal. This will allow young readers at the very beginning of complex and have an interesting journey do not worry about memorizing English words or their abbreviations and write programs in your native Russian language. The book, using simple game examples, examines all the most important programming topics in the Turbo Pascal language and gives the basics of object-oriented programming in Windows environment using the Delphi package. To work with it, no prior training is required and only the basics of computer literacy are sufficient.”

Published in 2006, it is actually a textbook on Pascal. Based on the content, we can conclude that the book provides Pascal basics and nothing more. Estimated age target audience- 14-15 years old.

Unfortunately, really useful literature on the basics of programming, there are not so many that can be offered to a teenager. However, in the future I plan to continue searching and selecting such books and am going to share the information I found with you, with the respected community of site programmers.

Continue learning to program in Java! Programming covers all areas of our lives: from economics to entertainment, from medicine to space exploration. By learning to program, you will develop attentiveness, patience, perseverance, a penchant for intellectual activity, and the ability to make independent decisions. You will gain practical skills that will always be useful to you in the future! This is more useful and interesting than online games and computer clubs!

After successful completion of the course “Fundamentals of Java programming for schoolchildren. Module 2" you will receive a 1C certificate, recognized not only in Russia, but also abroad.

• Java is one of the four most popular programming languages ​​in the world! Anyone who owns it will not be left without work!
• Knowing Java, you can create almost anything: applications for desktop operating systems Windows, Linux, Mac OS, mobile applications for Android, websites.
• An excellent start for beginners, instills a culture of programming!
• During classes, students create a computer game, which is very interesting for children and teenagers!
• As various studies show, the salaries of Java programmers are 30-40% higher than the market average.

Course program

Module 1. Lesson No. 1

• Handling events when working with the mouse.
• Tracks mouse keystrokes.
• Determining the position of the mouse cursor on the screen.
• Creating a program for drawing with a mouse.

Module 2. Lesson No. 2

• Introduction to Internet development, the concept of an applet.
• Using form elements: label, text field, button.
• Creation simple calculator using form elements.

Module 3. Lesson No. 3

• Completing the process of creating a calculator application.
• Convert a calculator application into an applet.
• Creating an HTML page with a calculator applet.
• Different scope of variables within a class.
• Passing parameters to class methods and returning values ​​by methods, the this operator.
• The concept of an object reference, the null operator.

Module 4. Lesson No. 4

• Studying the structure of a web page.
• Basics of HTML, JavaScript, CSS.
• Principles for creating a static site with interactive content created in Java.

Module 5. Lesson No. 5

• Principles of creating a dynamic website, the concept of CMS.
• Create a web page with using HTML, CSS, JavaScript.

Module 6. Lesson No. 6

• Purpose of the Windows Registry.
• Windows Registry Structure.
• Creating a greeting card Windows applications, blocking user actions - interface implementation.

Module 7. Lesson No. 7

• Completing the creation of the Windows congratulatory blocker.
• Creating a launchable JAR archive of the blocker.
• Recording a congratulatory blocker in the registry, Windows startup.

Module 8. Lesson No. 8

• Basics of working with the file system.
• Working with file selection and color selection dialogs.

Module 9. Lesson No. 9

• Practical part – 30 minutes. Independent solution tasks.
• Introduction to visual form development in Eclipse.
• An example of creating an application using a visual editor.
• Creating an application with computer graphics elements using a visual editor.

Module 10. Lesson No. 10

• Practical part – 30 minutes. Independent problem solving.
• Creating a web page with diagramming and interaction via JavaScript.
• Creating a Windows application with motion animation.

Classroom load with a teacher: 20 ac. h.

At the end of the course, a final assessment is carried out in the form of a test in the last lesson or based on grades practical work performed during training.

Most modern children play computer games. Have you ever wanted to write a game yourself? Perhaps you not only wanted to, but you wrote them. Many schoolchildren have the same desire. True, unlike you, they don’t know where to start, or even what language to choose. This is a starting point that can be a good incentive to learn programming.
It's one thing to play, and another thing to develop. It may be a small two-dimensional computer game, but it “warms the soul” much more than any cool purchased one. And all because this game is yours! You are its creator, developer, you are the creator! Here a background appears, here is a labyrinth, and then a tank appears on the playing field. We'll add more program code, and the tank begins to drive through the labyrinth. So, step by step, a game is born, which is created according to the script of its creator. Moreover, every idea requires effort - thinking, writing, debugging. Not everything works out right away... But programming skills are honed very well. All you have to do is write a few toys and you're already guaranteed First level in programming, laid the foundation for the future professional activity.

Which language should a novice programmer choose?

Almost every novice programmer faces the question - which programming language to choose? One of good options, in our opinion, is the Java programming language. And there are good reasons for this.
First, Java is almost always one of the four most popular programming languages ​​in the world. This means that learning Java is useful not only for gaining programming skills, but also professionally.
Secondly, Java allows you to cover a wide range of development - these are applications for desktop operating systems Windows, Linux, Mac OS, mobile applications for Android, web development, including interactive applications, similarity Flash applications. There's never a dull moment when learning Java!
Thirdly, this language is easier for beginners than the C/C++ languages, which are good to learn after mastering Java, and not before.
Fourth, Java is a strongly typed language, which instills good coding habits.
There are very few programming languages ​​that are suitable for beginners on all these points at once.

How to get a student interested in programming?

Rapid development computer technology requires a surge of new personnel. Who is the mainstay in the near future for the software development industry? These are our schoolchildren. How to improve students' programming proficiency? Start building the necessary skills at school! The principle is the same as when training athletes.
The student simply needs to be interested and captivated by programming. Most are not yet able to approach the study of programming as a means of mastering their future profession. Therefore, interest and passion come first for schoolchildren. This is precisely the main goal that was set when creating our course “Fundamentals of Java Programming.” It is based on various areas of development that can attract the attention of a student. This includes game development, computer graphics elements, user interface design, and web development. The course is designed for learning “from scratch” and, in addition to awakening a passion for programming, lays the foundation and opens up talented schoolchildren not only to teachers, but also to the students themselves. After all, not every student knows about his programming abilities; to find out about it, you have to try. The sooner talent is discovered, the better! The course material is presented in such a way that at each lesson the children learn something new and interesting.

A few words about the course structure

The course consists of four modules, usually taking 2 years of study, 1 lesson per week. In the first module (six months), children (usually 11-13 years old) are introduced to a minimum amount of Java theory, including the object-oriented approach. There is an introduction to gaming tools: timer, working with images, working with the keyboard, generating random numbers. Armed necessary knowledge, we begin the process of creating a small computer game. From start to finish, step by step, together with the teacher, it happens detailed review creating a game.
In the second module we get acquainted with the creation various applications in Java language. They study working with a mouse, operations with files, building a user interface, databases, creating a web page, and developing a calculator.
The third module immerses students in web development and examines website creation in detail. The main points that a novice web developer will need are studied.
The first three modules are taught in the style of introducing new material and solving small tasks to consolidate knowledge.
The last, fourth module is pure practice. The children are invited to write three famous computer games on their own: Snake, Sea battle, Solitaire. The teacher is an assistant who gives recommendations and prompts in difficult situations.

Examples of our guys' performances

The main result of completing the course is the ability to write games yourself. Here are examples of our guys' performances:
Victoria Leskina (1st module) -