Description

This three-day, instructor-led course introduces students to computer programming. Students will learn the fundamental concepts and terminology of software application development and develop skills in designing and writing simple computer programs. The course assumes no programming background and provides an overview of the software development process in addition to introducing important programming constructs and methodologies.

The course covers such topics as programming language characteristics, integrated development environments, flowcharts, algorithms and pseudocode, variables, operators, conditional statements, looping statements, procedures, error-handling and debugging, object-oriented programming techniques, user interface design, software modeling, and Extensible Markup Language (XML) Web services.

Target Audience

This course is intended for students who wish to:

• Learn what software development is and what software developers do.
• Learn programming concepts and terminology to facilitate communication with software developers.
• Learn to read, trace, and understand simple code.
• Learn to write, test, and debug code to solve a simple problem.
• Evaluate their personal aptitude for career as a programmer or software developer.

This course is appropriate for:

• Individuals who are contemplating a career in software development and who wish to understand the fundamentals of computer programming.
• Professionals, such as managers and technical salespeople, who must understand programming concepts and be able to communicate with software developers.
• End-users of productivity applications, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Access, who want to add advanced functionality to documents and databases.
• Web designers who want to understand how programs and scripts can make Web sites more dynamic.

Objectives

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Describe a typical computer system and its critical components.
• Describe the software development process, its purpose, critical steps, and where programming fits in that process.
• Describe the purposes of programming and software development.
• Describe the evolution of common characteristics of, and differences among, modern programming languages.
• Define an integrated development environment.
• Describe the architectural aspects of a software application.
• Identify a problem that requires a programmed solution.
• Use common abstract methods to describe the solution concept.
• Implement variables.
• List and describe common operators.
• Implement conditional statements.
• Implement looping constructs.
• Implement procedures.
• Handle errors.
• Implement object-oriented programming techniques.
• Model an object-oriented program.
• Build a Windows-based application.
• Build a Web application.
• Describe XML Web services.

Prerequisites

This course assumes students have these skills:

• Basic familiarity with using a computer, such as browsing the Internet or using a word-processing application.
• The ability to use a mouse and keyboard to navigate through the Microsoft Windows user interface.
• The ability to perform simple file access tasks, such as browsing a directory structure, opening and saving files, and creating folders.

Outline

• Module 1: Introduction to Computer Programs
  • Lessons
    • Overview of Software Development
    • Phases in the Execution of a Computer Program
    • Overview of Problem-Solving Techniques
    • Overview of Program Types
  • Lab 1: Determining the Program Phases and Examining Them in Code
    • Determining Program Phases
    • Finding the Program Phases in Code
• Module 2: Introduction to Scripting
  • Lessons
    • Using Web Scripting
    • Using Macro Scripting
    • Using Windows Scripting
  • Lab 2: Writing Scripts
    • Creating “Hello World” with a Web Script
    • Creating “Hello World” with a Macro
    • Creating “Hello World” with a Windows Script
• Module 3: Using Data and Variables
  • Lessons
    • Using Variables
    • Using Operators
    • Using Programming Syntax
  • Lab 3: Using Arithmetic Operators
    • Calculating the Annual Remuneration of an Employee
• Module 4: Using Program Logic
  • Lessons
    • Using Branching
    • Using Loops
    • Identifying Logic Errors
  • Lab 4: Selecting Candidates Based on Interview Results
    • Writing the Pseudocode
• Module 5: Using Procedures and Functions
  • Lessons
    • Using Procedures
    • Using Functions
  • Lab 5: Identifying Functions and Passing Arguments to a Procedure
    • Identifying Functions
    • Passing Arguments to a Procedure
• Module 6: Introduction to Developing a User Interface
  • Lessons
    • Designing a User Interface
    • Building a User Interface
  • Lab 6: Building a User Interface
    • Building a Web Interface
• Module 7: Introduction to Working with Data
  • Lessons
    • Introduction to Managing Data
    • Using the Entity Relationship Model
    • Sorting Data by Using Keys
    • Using XML
• Module 8: Programming Approaches
  • Lessons
    • Using the Procedural Programming Approach
    • Using the Object-Oriented Programming Approach
  • Lab 8: Examining Classes
    • Identifying Classes
• Module 9: Introduction to the Software Development Process
  • Lessons
    • Software Development Phases
    • Introduction to the Unified Modeling Language
    • Developing Use-Case Diagrams
    • Examining Other UML Diagrams
  • Lab 9: Developing a Use-Case Diagram
    • Identifying Use Cases
    • Creating a Use-Case Diagram
• Module 10: Where Do We Go From Here?
  • Lessons
    • Looking Back
    • Looking Forward
  • Lab 10: Putting Programming Fundamentals Together
    • Developing a Windows-based Application
    • Developing a Web-based Application