Basic Concepts for Programming in Java

Note to Facilitator: it may help to analogize programming to something more recognizable to students, like describing to someone else the process they use for getting ready in the morning. Key things to identify: how we tend to be very general is what we describe; how there's always room to be more specific about what actions we take; and how actual programming requires being very specific.

The very very basics

Everything that happens in a computer program can be put into one of these categories:

• Remember Something
• Organize Something
• Do Something
• Decide Something

Remember Something

variables

variable types

constants

Organize Something

package

import

blocks

braces

semicolons

functions/methods

classes and instances

Do Something

variable declarations

method calls

comments

overriding

operators

loops

annotations

Decide Something

conditional statements

boolean logic and logical operators