🚀 go-pugleaf

Scott,

Yes, I do understand.  I've tried (at customer request) something
similar for VACPP - and it didn't work.  The students knew how to create
the GUI and connect parts - but when it came to actually writing code,
they fell very short.

Current GUI designs are great.  But we aren't yet at a point (IMHO) that
we can ignore the underlying language.  A GUI doesn't do everything, by
a long shot,  I firmly believe, and past experience has upheld, that
teaching "shortcuts" saves time in the class - but causes more problems
in the long run than it solves.  

When I teach Java, I teach the language.  When I teach VAJava, I teach
the tool.  I do allow the tools (VAJava, JBuilder, etc.) help where they
can.

But if it means they need to manually create and add 4 buttons, then
they do it.  It helps them learn what's going on - and, in your case,
they can see the results of the code when they display it - and have,
(again, IMHO) a better understanding of what's going on.

Scott Stanchfield wrote:
> 
> I don't mean having the class be "VisualAge and Java"; What I mean is
> having the class be slightly assisted by VAJ. They still write code, but
> it helps separate the Java concepts from the file system, and the VCE
> could help them concentrate on layout management rather than taking all
> the time to type
> 
>   Panel p = new Panel(new BorderLayout());
>   Button north  = new Button("North");
>   Button south  = new Button("South");
>   Button east   = new Button("East");
>   Button west   = new Button("West");
>   Button center = new Button("Center");
>   p.add(north,  BorderLayout.NORTH);
>   p.add(south,  BorderLayout.SOUTH);
>   p.add(east,   BorderLayout.EAST);
>   p.add(west,   BorderLayout.WEST);
>   p.add(center, BorderLayout.CENTER);
> 
> And that's just a simple example -- I have them recreate the
> (hideously-complex) GUI for WsFTP after I teach layouts...
> 
> I've been teaching Java for two years now, the entire time teching it as
> code. However, the last several public "intro to java" courses that I've
> taught, I used VAJ basically just as an editor.
> (Of course I always ask if anyone has an objection...)
> 
> Anyway, this has seriously helped one big problem: the initial Java vs.
> the file system confusion.
> 
> With VAJ, of course, there are no files. This allows the students to
> concentrate on the java _concepts_ (class, interface, package) rather
> than the particular implementation of a JDK. After they have done
> several labs in VAJ (all writing code by hand) and I lecture about how
> packages just happen to be laid out in the file system, I show them how
> to export the code and compile it in the JDK.
> 
> This has gone great every time, really helping them to see that the
> names/values of files/dirs/CLASSPATH are directly derived from the Java
> constructs, rather than the other way around.
> 
> The new thing I want to try is using the VCE for _just_ drawing GUIs.
> 
> The big problem I'm seeing is that folks spend too much time in labs
> writing GUI code, rather than using the GUI _concepts_.
> 
> I'd still teach them the code, but I feel it's much more important that
> they practice the design of the GUI using layout managers. It also
> provides a fantastic example of how JavaBeans are used.
> 
> My goal when teaching is to make sue they understand the concepts well;
> they can always look up the exact method calls later (not to mention
> many of them will probably use some sort of GUI builder anyway).
> 
> --
> -- Scott
> 
> ============================================================
> Scott Stanchfield     Santa Cruz, CA
>     http://www.jguru.com/thetick        thetick@jguru.com
> MageLang Institute - We Serve the Best Java Education!
>     http://www.MageLang.com
> VisualAge Tips and Tricks
>     http://www.jguru.com/thetick/visualage/tips

-- 

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To reply, delete the "x" from my email address

Jerry Stuckle
jstucklex@ibm.net
JDS Computer Training Corp.
Sun Certified Java Programmer
VisualAge/Java Certified Developer
VisualAge/C++ Certified Developer

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