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<font face="serif">Students -- I got a few questions overnight from
folks having problems with their ShippingCube.java classes. When
I went to look at the code I noticed that the students were trying
to do several things that we have not yet covered in class (or
that are not in chapters 1-4 of the text). For example, I saw
code with "if" statements, loops, exception clauses -- lots of
things that we will see later but that we have not seen yet. Did
I mention that none of these programs were running properly...<br>
<br>
I know that there are several of you in the class that already
know a lot of Java. Some of you have personally demonstrated to
me your skill at using the Java language. That's great -- but
java is just the tool we use to solve the problems and there is a
time to use appropriate techniques with the tool. It would be
silly for me to try and crack a walnut with an anvil and a
sledgehammer. Sure - it will work - but I guarantee you that it
is going to make a mess and I probably won't get to enjoy what
remains. A much more efficient - and elegant method - would be to
use a pair of pliers or, if I had one, a nutcracker. <br>
<br>
This class is as much about learning how to solve problems using
the proper tools as it is about leaning the Java language. Based
on what I am seeing, some of you that have programmed before are
big on language features but weak on algorithm design and problem
solving. When you can't figure out a clean solution to a problem
(like the one we did in class to get change) you start running to
more advanced language features. Since we won't start covering
booleans and if statements until this week, and haven't even
thought about loops, I would be a pretty sick individual to expect
you to use those techniques to solve the problems associated with
the programming assignment due Wednesday.<br>
<br>
That being said, we have talked a lot about mathematical
operations, using the Math class and the Math API. EVERYTHING in
this programming assignment can be accomplished using the things
discussed in chapters 1-4 of your text.<br>
<br>
Last thing -- as you work on each method think about what you need
and how you can get that information from the instance variables.
For example, how can you get the length of the shipping cube side
from the number of balls and the ball diameter. You might have to
sit down with a pencil, a piece of paper, and a calculator to
figure that one out. It doesn't require loops, but it will require
you to use methods from the Math class - so you might want to have
the web page of the Java 8 Math API open.<br>
<br>
Keep the questions coming...<br>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Andrew J. Pounds, Ph.D. (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pounds_aj@mercer.edu">pounds_aj@mercer.edu</a>)
Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science
Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207 (478) 301-5627
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://faculty.mercer.edu/pounds_aj">http://faculty.mercer.edu/pounds_aj</a>
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