Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose

Go to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/cs-programming-java

Introduction

**Course Review: Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose on Coursera** In today's digitized world, understanding programming is not merely an asset; it has become an essential skill across various fields, including the arts, social sciences, and humanities. The course "Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose" on Coursera is a comprehensive introduction designed to provide students with foundational programming skills, primarily using the Java programming language. This review will break down the course's content, structure, and its inherent value to enrich your learning journey. ### Overview of the Course The course is predicated on the notion that just as reading, writing, and arithmetic were essential in the past, programming is the cornerstone of modern education. The curated syllabus systematically builds your programming prowess starting from the fundamental concepts and progressively advancing towards more complex topics. ### Course Structure and Syllabus Breakdown The course is divided into several well-structured modules, each focusing on core programming concepts. Here’s a closer look at the syllabus: 1. **Basic Programming Concepts**: This introductory module addresses the "why" of programming, accompanied by a historical lens. You'll explore the anatomy of your first Java program, along with Java’s built-in data types through illustrative examples, setting a strong foundation for what follows. 2. **Conditionals and Loops**: Delving into the very fabric of programming logic, this section emphasizes Java's control structures, such as if-statements and loops. Practical examples—like sorting and simulating random processes—make learning engaging and applicable. 3. **Arrays**: Arrays are pivotal in programming. This module describes how to work with large sequences of data in Java, reinforced by examples like shuffling cards and the coupon collector test, allowing you to see arrays in action. 4. **Input and Output**: This section teaches effective interaction with users through text, drawings, and animations. Creating fractal drawings and dynamic animations fosters a practical understanding of output mechanisms. 5. **Functions and Libraries**: By exploring functions, this module introduces modular programming, enabling you to break projects into manageable units. You'll develop functions for mathematical distributions and even dabble in digital music synthesis. 6. **Recursion**: This fascinating area employs self-referencing functions to solve problems. The lecture takes you through engaging examples (like the Towers of Hanoi) and introduces the concept of dynamic programming as a solution to common recursion pitfalls. 7. **Performance**: Understanding resource requirements is essential for every programmer. This module teaches a scientific approach to evaluate performance through mathematical modeling and real-world testing, empowering you to optimize your programs effectively. 8. **Abstract Data Types**: You will learn about creating your own data types in Java, enabling you to abstract real-world concepts into your programming logic, a key in object-oriented programming. 9. **Creating Data Types**: This pivotal lecture guides you through the creation mechanics of custom data types and their applications, culminating in a program that visualizes complex mathematical abstractions like the Mandelbrot set. 10. **Programming Languages**: The course concludes with an enlightening overview of various programming languages, showcasing how your Java expertise lays a strong foundation for learning languages like C, C++, Python, and MATLAB. ### Recommendations "Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose" is an outstanding choice for anyone looking to delve into programming. Here are some key reasons to consider enrolling: - **Structured Learning Path**: The course is tailored for beginners yet progresses to intermediate concepts, making it suitable for those with no prior programming experience. - **Practical Application**: With hands-on examples and projects, you not only learn theoretically but also apply what you've learned in real-life scenarios. - **Broad Relevance**: As programming becomes increasingly relevant in various disciplines, this course equips you with a versatile skill set that transcends technical barriers. ### Final Thoughts In conclusion, if you're eager to improve your programming skills or explore a new domain of knowledge, "Computer Science: Programming with a Purpose" is an exceptional choice. It provides a robust foundational understanding of programming concepts while highlighting their importance across diverse fields. For anyone serious about engaging with the digital age's demands, this course is not just a recommendation; it's a necessary step towards understanding the intricacies of our tech-driven world. Enroll today, and take the first step towards programming proficiency!

Syllabus

BASIC PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS

Why program? This lecture addresses that basic question. Then it describes the anatomy of your first program and the process of developing a program in Java using either virtual terminals or a program development environment, with some historical context. Most of the lecture is devoted to a thorough coverage of Java's built-in data types, with example programs for each.

The if, while, and for statements are Java's fundamental control structures. This lecture is built around short programs that use these constructs to address important computational tasks. Examples include sorting, computing the square root, factoring, and simulating a random process. The lecture concludes with a detailed example illustrating the process of debugging a program.

Computing with a large sequence of values of the same type is extremely common. This lecture describes Java's built-in array data structure that supports such applications, with several examples, including shuffling a deck of cards, the coupon collector test for randomness, and random walks in a grid.

To interact with our programs, we need mechanisms for taking information from the outside world and for presenting information to the outside world. This lecture describes several such mechanisms: for text, drawings, and animation. Detailed examples covered include fractal drawings that model natural phenomena and an animation of a ball bouncing around in the display window.

Modular programming is the art and science of breaking a program into pieces that can be individually developed. This lecture introduces functions (Java methods), a fundamental mechanism that enables modular programming. Motivating examples include functions for the classic Gaussian distribution and an application that creates digital music.

A recursive function is one that calls itself. This lecture introduces the concept by treating in detail the ruler function and (related) classic examples, including the Towers of Hanoi puzzle, the H-tree, and simple models of the real world based on recursion. We show a common pitfall in the use of recursion, and a simple way to avoid it, which introduces a different (related) programming paradigm known as dynamic programming.

When you develop a program, you need to be aware of its resource requirements. In this lecture, we describe a scientific approach to understanding performance, where we develop mathematical models describing the running time our programs and then run empirical tests to validate them. Eventually we come to a simple and effective approach that you can use to predict the running time of your own programs that involve significant amounts of computation.

In Java, you can create your own data types and use them in your programs. In this and the next lecture, we show how this ability allows us to view our programs as abstract representations of real-world concepts. First we show the mechanics of writing client programs that use data types. Our examples involve abstractions such as color, images, and genes. This style of programming is known as object-oriented programming because our programs manipulate objects, which hold data type values.

Creating your own data types is the central activity in modern Java programming. This lecture covers the mechanics (instance variables, constructors, instance methods, and test clients) and then develops several examples, culminating in a program that uses a quintessential mathematical abstraction (complex numbers) to create visual representations of the famous Mandelbrot set.

We conclude the course with an overview of important issues surrounding programming languages. To convince you that your knowledge of Java will enable you to learn other programming languages, we show implementations of a typical program in C, C++, Python, and Matlab. We describe important differences among these languages and address fundamental issues, such as garbage collection, type checking, object oriented programming, and functional programming with some brief historical context.