Introduction to programming with Visual Basic .NET

Dr. Marty Sirkin

This class is designed for: Non-programmers People interested in learning to program Potential CS majors who want to “get their

feet wet”

This class requires: No background in Computer Science No previous programming experience

A programming class You will program a LOT You will learn by doing, not reading

A lot of fun You will be amazed by how much you will be

able to do (both quickly and easily)

Do-able If something is difficult, please just ASK. I am

more than happy to help as much as you need

Interactive. I expect people to: Ask questions Ask more questions Ask even more questions

Challenge my statements and assumptions

Potted plants are best suited for the lobby!!

Been a programmer since 1969 (age 8) Attended:

Caltech (BS Physics) University of Washington (MS, PhD Computer Sci)

Worked for: NASA (JPL) IBM Research Various startups

Started my own firm: First Choice Software Consulting and then product firm CRM Software CEO/CTO Ran it for 12 years Sold it in 2005

The best way to reach me is email. I am always on email, and that is the quickest, best way to contact me. My email address is:

marty@sirkin.net

I will make every attempt to get back to you very quickly, and almost always this will be within a couple of hours.

This class will cover: Computer Arithmetic Basic computer architecture What is a program/How to design and write

programs Basic flowcharts History/Why Visual Basic .Net Visual programming, and how it is different

than imperative programming Visual programming

Class Meetings Wed/Fri: 1:00 – 2:15

Office hours Mon: 12:00 – 1:00 Duffy 012 Or email me to set up a time!

What I expect from you in class is pretty simple: Respectful of each other and yourselves Be prepared (reading assignments) Try hard

What you can expect from me: My attention My respect My best effort, no matter how much effort it

takes

Homework Reading each week Written assignments

Help understand the concepts Programming

Trying out what we’ve discussed in lecture

Project Will be programming Will build on weekly assignments Goal is for you to feel pumped by what you’ve

completed, in very little time Details to be handed out early in semester

Midterm and Final Insuring that you’ve learned the core

concepts If you are up on assignments/project,

they should be EASY

Item Percent of Grade

Weekly Homework 40%

Midterm Exam 10%

Final Project 30%

Final Exam 20%

My goal is to teach you I want you to learn, get excited about

programming, and continue with it past this class

Grades are far more important to students than they are to me

I will award liberal extra credit for students who go way above and beyond

It is trivial (in programming) to do more and better with your programs.

Written assignments handed in at class If you won’t be at class, email me in advance

to make arrangements Programming assignments can be

emailed to me Details to be explained when assignments are

handed out

To repeat:

I want to make sure that you succeed. I am more than happy to help you as much as you need until you do succeed. But the onus is on you – you must ASK for help.

Object Oriented programming Visual Studio

What it does for you Tour/features

Data types Debugging your programs Event-driven programming Controls overview Input/output methods

Control structures (if/then, others) Loops User-defined procedures/functions File input/output Multiple forms, manipulating forms More with arrays Interacting with databases (time

permitting) Web programming (time permitting) Graphics (time permitting)

There is a class web site. It is located at:

http://web.stonehill.edu/compsci/cs102

The site contains the .ppt files of class lectures, assignments, and useful links.

If you have any issues with the website, please let me know!

… of this course you will be able to: Write sophisticated Visual Basic programs Write fairly sophisticated graphical interfaces Be able to debug programs you write in a

scientific, efficient fashion Move on to the next logical step of Visual

Basic .NET programming: Services Custom assemblies

Move on to other programming languages, including Java or C#

Time for a demo of the class final project…

I live for trivia. I will typically ask trivia questions at the end of each homework assignment

Trivia is optional, and is intended for fun From time to time, some of the trivia

questions will be worth (small amounts) of extra credit

If you’ve got a great trivia question for me, please do send it in!