Adam J. Conover, D.Sc.

Below is list of potentially useful supplemental materials.  For required materials, see the syllabus for the relevant course.

COSC 236/237/336

• Java
  • JDK, Netbeans, and Java API's
    • Windows Help version of the API Documentation.
    • Firefox Search Bar Plugins.
• • Java Tutorials
    • "Official" Sun/Oracle Tutorials
      • Generics Tutorial (One of the more difficult programming concepts)
    • IBM's "Introduction to Java programming"
  • Netbeans Tutorial
    • Handy Netbeans Keyboard Shortcuts.
    • A "Screen-Cast" of the Java editing features in Netbeans.
    
    
• Other Information
  • How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: A set of very well written documents on basic computer programming and data-structures
    • Java Edition
    • C++ Edition
    • Python Edition
      
      
  • Java Generic Types: Generic Types are the basis for "Type-Safe" API  design and implementation. Understanding the generic type-system in Java is essential for anyone wishing to develop libraries of classes for use by other programmers.
    • Java Generics FAQ
      • A very comprehensive overview of Generic Types in Java... covers a lot of "corner cases"
    • My own Generic Type Example
      • An example to help take some of confusion out Generic Types, especially "bounded" and "wildcard" types.
   
  • C Programming language: "Plain Old C" is probably more important to know than even C++ in my opinion as it connects you to the hardware in a manner which is less tedious than assembly language, without the need to get bogged down in the complex language semantics of C++.
    • The C Programming Language
    • K&R Version 4
    • ANSI C (C99)

COSC 455

• Materials coming soon...

COSC 457

• Any of the links from the COSC236/237 section above may be useful.
• Other Software
  • Apache Derby (This is what we will use in class)
• • • A pure Java RDBMS solution capable of being used as either a standalone database system or embedded directly into an application.
    • Requires no "installation" or even any significant configuration.
    • Netbeans has integrated Apache Derby support, making database application development very easy.
  • PostgreSQL
    • A very robust system with many ODBMS capabilities.
    • I actually prefer PostgreSQL over MySQL.
    • Might be worth checking out on your own because it shares a lot of design philosophy with the Oracle database system.

ITEC470

• General Links
  • W3Schools JavaScript Tutorial
  • W3Schools XML Tutorial
  • Python Documentation and Tutorials
• Beginning PERL

Miscellaneous

• Potentially useful 3rd-party Java Libraries
  • Apache Commons:  A large collection of various API's ranging from file manipulation, to enhanced math functions, etc.
  • Apache Derby: A full SQL RDBMS in Java designed for embedding directly into "zero-configuration" applications.
  • Guava: Library of advanced collection API's from Google.  (The Bidirectional Map is tremendously useful!)
  • Java Expression Parser: Parse and evaluate mathematical and logical expressions from user input
  • JChart2D: Display real-time charts and graphs.
  • JGraph: A general purpose graph manipulation and rendering package (commercial and free/GPL versions).
  • Java Media API's: Collection of (somewhat official) image, video, 3D, and sound manipulation classes from Sun/Oracle.
  • JFugue: A nice little API for easily playing musical notes.
  • JScience: A large collection of classes designed for scientific computing.
  • RxTx: An API and associated system libraries for reading/writing to/from serial and parallel ports.

Curriculum Vita

Why make things difficult, when it's possible to make them cryptic and totally illogical, with just a little bit more effort? - Aksel Peter Jørgensen