Slashdot Mirror

As I a little project I've built out the site http://javabat.com/ ... it's about having lots of little online problems for code practice. arc Big architectural ideas are important, but javabat just helps you build the basic but critical loop/logic/array/string skills. There's also a big section on recursion.

Check out http://javabat.com/ for coding practice (the *teaching* of the material is still a problem, but JavaBat is great for practicing)

Check out the free online coding practice code at http://javabat.com/ such as this cute problem: http://www.javabat.com/prob/p183562 (shameless self promotion)

Check out the free online coding practice code at http://javabat.com/ such as this cute problem: http://www.javabat.com/prob/p183562 (shameless self promotion)

I've taught intro CS at Stanford, and the key is to leverage programming projects as you go. Just talking about CS without doing it is ridiculous ... fun programming projects that are scaled to challenge the students at the level of what they know can work really well, emphasizing the key aspects of CS while engaging the students.

This site gathers great assignments for use by instructors or whatever:
http://nifty.stanford.edu/

This site has live little programming problems that work in the browser
http://javabat.com/

Slashdot smarties challenge: heres's a tiny programming problem
http://javabat.com/prob?id=Logic.makeBricks
See if you can type in a solution which passes the tests the first time -- harder than it looks!

I've taught intro CS at Stanford, and the key is to leverage programming projects as you go. Just talking about CS without doing it is ridiculous ... fun programming projects that are scaled to challenge the students at the level of what they know can work really well, emphasizing the key aspects of CS while engaging the students.

This site gathers great assignments for use by instructors or whatever:
http://nifty.stanford.edu/

This site has live little programming problems that work in the browser
http://javabat.com/

Slashdot smarties challenge: heres's a tiny programming problem
http://javabat.com/prob?id=Logic.makeBricks
See if you can type in a solution which passes the tests the first time -- harder than it looks!

That's funny, this just came up yesterday, but take a look at http://javabat.com/ -- it's a free site with little practice coding problems that run live in the browser. You type in your code and it runs the unit tests right there, so it's a good low-barrier resource, for a class or lab without requiring any setup. The problems are small and focused on algorithms: strings, loops, recursion, logic

Disclaimer: I built it

As a former High School InfoTech student and current College Programming Student, I really don't find textbooks that useful at all. Truthfully, the only use I ever get out of textbooks (other than reading the questions the teacher's assign) is reading the examples and the using the reference section.

Not only do examples and references exist on the web, but it is SO much easier to use a reference with hyperlinks than to have to jump between pages of a book

If you really need some good ideas I have a list of resourses:
- CodeSyntax - Basis syntax for Java,C,Python,etc
- JavaBat - different levels of Java puzzles (ajax handles compiling/etc, no software required)
- Eddie's Basic Guide to C Programming
- ANSI Dictionary - unbelievably nice ANSI dictionary, fully cross-referenced.

Consider setting up a wiki-book full of information, labs, excersies and tutorials. This is a computer class after all and information should be easy to find without needing to pack yet ANOTHER heavy book around. To make your job easier, you could allow the students to add stuff to the wiki (log activity of course), even setting up a page where they can add useful websites they've found.

For basic coding practice, try the free http://javabat.com/ -- it has little coding problems (logic, strings, arrays, recursion) that run right in the browser, so you get immediate feedback. It's great for building skill in the basics, but it's no substitute for building larger programs. Disclaimer: I built it