Essential Java Skills for AP CompSci Complete : From Programming to Computer Science

Gain the essential skills for computer science using one of today's most popular programming languages, Java. This book will prepare you for AP CompSci Complete, but you don’t need to be sitting that class to benefit. Computer science has become a basic life skill that everyone is going to need to learn. Whether you are going into a career or side hustle in business, technology, creativity, architecture, or almost any other field, you will find coding and computer science play a role. So when we learn programming we are going to focus on three things: what is the process; what is the syntax; and what is the flow. The process is represented as a flowchart. We will learn how to make these to help you plan out what you are going to do before you write a line of code. At first, the flowcharts will be pretty simple, but then they will get more complex. The syntax is the code: this is what you write that translates the process you create in a flowchart to the instructions that the computer can understand. Finally, there is the flow. This is where you trace through the code and see how the data and information it stores along the way changes. You can see how the operation of the program cascades from line to line. You will be building charts that will capture the programming flow so you can better understand how the computer processes code to make your next program easier to conceive and code. Along the way to aid in the learning of the essential Java skills, there will be three kinds of project types throughout this book: business software projects for applications where you work for a company and need to complete an internal project for a team such as the sales, marketing, or data science teams; social good projects where you are working for non-profits or for agencies that are trying to research and provide solutions to economic, environmental, medical, or humanitarian projects; and game development projects for games based on player input, random chance, or other mechanics for the use of entertainment. What is unique about computer science is how it has become a skill, and not just a career. While there are jobs and titles of “computer scientist”, the skill of computer science, and specifically programming, are almost everywhere. After reading and using this book, you'll have the essential skills to think like a computer scientist, even if you are not. As a result you’ll be of greater value to your clients, your company, and yourself. ------------------------- Discover the primary building blocks of programming using the Java programming language See terminology and best practices of software development Work with object-oriented programming concepts Use common-language definitions and examples to help drive understanding and comprehension of computer science fundamentals ------------------------------ Who This Book Is For Those who want to learn programming and want to think like a computer scientist. Ideal for anyone taking AP CompSci Complete. Table of Contents About the Author About the Technical Reviewer Sprint 1: Introduction What You Need Sprint 2: Setting Up the Java JDK and IntelliJ Coding Tools and IDEs Installation and Setup Install the JDK Install IntelliJ Sprint 3: Setting Up GitHub GitHub How GitHub Works Lifecycle of a Repository Sprint 4: Programming Languages Origin of Programming Forms of Programming Machine Language Interpreted Compiled Object-Oriented Data Functional Scripting Sprint 5: History and Uses of Java Java Beginnings Java’s Primary Goals Uses of Java Sprint 6: How Java Works The Problem with Compiled Languages The JVM and JRE Compiling Java Bytecode Precompiled Files OpenJRE Sprint 7: Flowcharting Flowcharting Tools Paper Tablet and Stylus Apps Flowcharting Basics Terminus Process/Action Input and Output Decisions Annotations Other Shapes Take Out the Trash But Is It Really That Simple? Sprint 8: Hello, World Create Your IntelliJ Java Project IntelliJ IDEA First Time Only: Configure the JDK Create Project About Your Project Coding Your Project Writing Your First Program Compile and Run Your First Program Create Your Repo in GitHub Upload Your Code to GitHub Sharing Program Output Sprint 9: Simple Java Program Structure Sprint 10: Text Literals and Output Text Output Escape Sequences Sprint 11: Value Literals Literal Formatting Sprint 12: Output Formatting Decimal Formatters Thousands Formatters Currency Formatters Spacing and Alignment Formatters Multiple Items in Formatters Sprint 13: Comments and Whitespace Sprint 14: Abstraction of Numbers Sprint 15: Binary Binary Numbers Bit Size and Values Overflow Sprint 16: Unicode Text Encoding ASCII + Unicode Emoji Sprint 17: Variables Essentials of Variables Code Examples Sprint 18: Math! Basic Operators Order of Operations String Concatenation Code Examples Sprint 19: Math Methods Working with Simple Methods Multiparameter Methods Illegal Value Types in Methods Math Constants Code Examples Sprint 20: Managing Type Mixing Types in Evaluations Numbers to Strings Strings to Numbers Casts Cast Errors Code Examples Sprint 21: Random Numbers Create a Random Number Generator Random Integers Random Decimals Code Examples Sprint 22: Capture Input Hello, Scanner Capturing Strings Capturing Integers Capturing Decimals Code Examples Sprint 23: Creating Trace Tables It’s a Spreadsheet Um. Why? Sprint 24: Methods Method Basics Writing a Method Call a Method Method Flow Code Guide Code Examples Sprint 25: Calling Methods Within Methods Methods Within Methods Infinite Methods Code Examples Sprint 26: Methods and Values Accepting Values in Methods Returning a Value Overloading a Method Code Guides Code Examples Sprint 27: Methods and Scope Variable Scope Errors Defining Class-Scoped Variables Class Conflicts Code Examples Sprint 28: Boolean Values and Equality Creating a Boolean Variable Boolean Logic Operators Altering a Boolean Value Combining Logic with Evaluations Compound Logic Operators Code Examples Sprint 29: Simple Conditional Statements The if Statement The else Statement The else if Statement Understanding Conditional Flow Code Examples Sprint 30: Matching Conditions with the switch Statement Creating a switch Statement Code Block Things to Look Out for with the switch Statement Code Examples Sprint 31: The Ternary Operator The if-else Statement Equivalent Converting to a Ternary Operator Using the Ternary Operator Inline with Code Code Examples Sprint 32: The Stack and the Heap Understanding the Stack Understanding the Heap Why This All Matters Sprint 33: Testing Equality with Strings When the Heap Throws Equality How to Better Compare String Values Code Examples Sprint 34: Dealing with Errors Coding to Catch Errors “Catching” Specific Errors Code Examples Sprint 35: Documenting with JavaDoc Using JavaDoc Syntax Generating Documentation Code Examples Sprint 36: Formatted Strings Creating a Formatted String Literal Code Examples Sprint 37: The while Loop Create a while Loop Code Examples Sprint 38: Automatic Program Loops Creating a Program Loop Code Examples Sprint 39: The do/while Loop Creating a do...while Loop Run at Least Once Sprint 40: Simplified Assignment Operators Combined Assignment Increment and Decrement Placement and Program Flow Code Examples Sprint 41: The for Loop Creating a for Loop Changing the Step Code Examples Sprint 42: Nesting Loops Creating Nested Loops Displaying as a Grid Code Examples Sprint 43: Strings as Collections Creating Strings Using the String Class Getting a String Length Getting a Specific Character from a String Finding a Character in a String Extracting a Substring Comparing Strings Code Examples Sprint 44: Make Collections Using Arrays Creating an Array with Values Getting a Value from an Array Creating an Array by Size Things to Avoid with Arrays Getting the Number of Values in an Array Looping Through an Array Code Examples Sprint 45: Creating Arrays from Strings Delimited Strings Splitting It Up What About Numbers? Code Examples Sprint 46: Multidimensional Arrays Define a Multidimensional Array Assign Values to Multidimensional Arrays Access Values in Multidimensional Arrays Rectangular and Irregular Arrays Code Examples Sprint 47: Looping Through Multidimensional Arrays Creating Nested Loops for Arrays Code Examples Sprint 48: Beyond Arrays with ArrayLists Create an ArrayList Add Items to ArrayLists Get Elements in ArrayLists Remove Elements from ArrayLists Find Items in ArrayLists Replace Items in ArrayLists Get the Size of an ArrayList Copy Elements to a New ArrayList Clear an ArrayList Code Examples Sprint 49: Introducing Generics Create an ArrayList with Generics Typing Using Generics Code Examples Sprint 50: Looping with ArrayLists Working with size() and get() Methods Code Examples Sprint 51: Using for...each Loops Mechanics of a for...each Loop This Is the Mechanics of the for...each Loop ArrayLists Without Generics Yep, Arrays Work Too Code Examples Sprint 52: The Role-Playing Game Character What Is a Role-Playing Game Character? Filling Out Our Character Sheet with Data Classes, Instantiation, and Construction Player Character Sheets Fighter Mage Paladin Priest Sprint 53: Polymorphism Creating a Class Hierarchy Party Up—All the Same—but All Different at the Same Time The Essential Tool: The Die Class Hierarchy, Polymorphism, Abstract, and Static Sprint 54: Make All the Things...Classes Creating Some Class Instantiate Thyself, Class! Sprint 55: Class, Extend Thyself! Sprint 56: I Don’t Collect Those; Too Abstract Sprint 57: Access Denied: Protected and Private Sprint 58: Interfacing with Interfaces Sprint 59: All I’m Getting Is Static Sprint 60: An All-Star Cast, Featuring Null Index Gain the essential skills for computer science using one of today's most popular programming languages, Java. This book will prepare you for AP CompSci Complete, but you don't need to be sitting that class to benefit. Computer science has become a basic life skill that everyone is going to need to learn. Whether you are going into a career or side hustle in business, technology, creativity, architecture, or almost any other field, you will find coding and computer science play a role. So when we learn programming we are going to focus on three things: what is the process; what is the syntax; and what is the flow. The process is represented as a flowchart. We will learn how to make these to help you plan out what you are going to do before you write a line of code. At first, the flowcharts will be pretty simple, but then they will get more complex. The syntax is the code: this is what you write that translates the process you create in a flowchart to the instructions that the computer can understand. Finally, there is the flow. This is where you trace through the code and see how the data and information it stores along the way changes. You can see how the operation of the program cascades from line to line. You will be building charts that will capture the programming flow so you can better understand how the computer processes code to make your next program easier to conceive and code. Along the way to aid in the learning of the essential Java skills, there will be three kinds of project types throughout this book: business software projects for applications where you work for a company and need to complete an internal project for a team such as the sales, marketing, or data science teams; social good projects where you are working for non-profits or for agencies that are trying to research and provide solutions to economic, environmental, medical, or humanitarian projects; and game development projects for games based on player input, random chance, or other mechanics for the use of entertainment. What is unique about computer science is how it has become a skill, and not just a career. While there are jobs and titles of "computer scientist", the skill of computer science, and specifically programming, are almost everywhere. After reading and using this book, you'll have the essential skills to think like a computer scientist, even if you are not. As a result you'll be of greater value to your clients, your company, and yourself. What You Will Learn Discover the primary building blocks of programming using the Java programming language See terminology and best practices of software development Work with object-oriented programming concepts Use common-language definitions and examples to help drive understanding and comprehension of computer science fundamentals Who This Book Is For Those who want to learn programming and want to think like a computer scientist. Ideal for anyone taking AP CompSci Complete. Computer science has become a basic life skill that will impact almost every career, and it is a skill that anyone can learn. Whether you are going into a career or side hustle in business, technology, creativity, architecture, or almost any other field, you will find coding and computer science play a role. This book teaches you the essential skills for computer science using one of today's most popular programming languages, Java. Each lesson is designed to be completed in about an hour, giving you a step-by-step process to learn over time and integrate into your daily workflow and schedule. Whether you are a student starting out with computer science, or looking to reskill into a digital career, this text will help you dive into the fundamentals of programming and prepare yourself to jump start your journey into computer science. Inside you will learn: The primary building blocks of programming using the Java programming language Terminology and best practices of software development Object-oriented programming concepts Common-language definitions and examples to help drive understanding and comprehension of computer science fundamentals