

run and compile programs on the command line.set up the programming environment (path, classpath).
WHAT IS BLUEJ PROGRAM INSTALL
install the java runtime and sdk himself.In my personal opinion a student after introductory Java class should be able to do the following: I think that BlueJ shelters students from some aspects of Java until it is to late in semester for them to develop good habits and instincts about them. Instead, we are churning out batches of GUI clickers. We should be training young hackers, and encourage them to get down and dirty and messing around with the guts of their OS and programming environment. I think this is unacceptable and shameful for MSU as a teaching institution. I swear I have never seen anyone so completely stumped by a command prompt. Today I helped a group of students who were completely mystified by the mysterious black box of cmd.exe. They are simply not prepared to deal with this type of technical problems. Up until now the IDE did everything for them, but now they suddenly need to learn allot of new things – like setting up your system path, navigating in a CLI environment and etc…Īll of that stuff is easy, but it can be incredibly scary to a student who was previously taught that “programming” involves clicking on things in a graphical IDE.
WHAT IS BLUEJ PROGRAM HOW TO
They need to abandon the comfy GUI based BlueJ interface and learn how to run and compile Java in the real world. Objects First students now have to make another big leap. From experience I know that this time usually comes in the last 2 weeks of the course, when the pace is really frantic and everyone is busy preparing for finals, and finishing up projects.
WHAT IS BLUEJ PROGRAM CODE
They are not able to write or execute Java code without assistance from this specialized tool until the instructor teaches them about the main method. It keeps students chained to a single, very limited IDE – namely BlueJ. But there is a serious drawback to this methodology. The theory is that the leap from OO to imperative paradigm is much easier to make then from imperative to OO. You do not show them the main method till very late in semester. They run methods by clicking on an object box and picking a method name from a similar menu. In BlueJ students write a class, and then initialize it by right clicking on it’s icon and choosing constrictor from a context menu. You teach them object oriented principles first, and equip them with tools that completely hide the imperative layer. The idea behind the Objects First approach is to completely bypass that leap. Figuring out how to make this leap, is an extremely crucial process.

It is a defining conceptual leap and prepares him for many similar leaps he will have to make in the future as a programmer. In fact, finally getting object oriented paradigm is possibly the most profound moment in a young programmers career. It is an extremely difficult transition and some people may never be able to make it. You see, when you teach students their first modern programming language the most difficult obstacle awaiting them is making the leap from imperative programming mode to object oriented programming. I know exactly what the instructors and administration is trying to achieve here. I cannot say that I do not understand the reasoning behind this choice. At Montclair State University introductory Java classes are taught using the BlueJ IDE.
