Studying Programming

by Sally Fincher

Overview

We've written this book to support students in studying programming. It is not a text to teach any particular programming language, but to be used alongside such a book, or in conjunction with a taught course. In Studying Programming we concentrate on what other books consider too 'obvious' or too 'basic'. We explain the ideas that others assume you know, we describe the things that can make learning to program a frustrating experience if you don't know them. We stay with you through the process from starting with your very first blank screen to working on complex problems within a team.

Studying Programming has been written by 9 members of the Computing Education Research Group at the University of Kent. All of us are practicing computing academics who also have a research interest in CS education. So we have a strong classroom background - teaching students on a daily basis - and a strong research background, knowing what has been investigated (and written on) with regard to students' knowledge, conception and difficulties in introductory programming.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350314962
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	02/13/2006
Series:	Bloomsbury Study Skills
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	280
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Studying Programming is co-authored by Sally Fincher and eight other members of the Computer Education Research Group at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK. All are practising computer science (CS) academics with a research interest in CS education. They bring to this book their individual specialist areas of computer education research.

SALLY FINCHER is Lecturer in the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent where she leads the Computer Education Research Group. She is editor of the Journal Computer Science Education jointly with Renee McCauley

The other authors from the Computer Education Research Group are:

DAVID BARNES is a Lecturer at the University of Kent.

JANET CARTER teaches Mathematics, Formal Reasoning and Network Analysis to Computer Science students.

ALIY FOWLER is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Kent.

URSULA FULLER is Dean of Science, Technology and Medical Studies at the University of Kent.

MATTHEW JADUD is a PhD student at the University of Kent.

COLIN JOHNSON is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Kent.

BOB KEIM is a Lecturer in Computing at the University of Kent-Medway.

JANET LININGTON is a Lecturer in the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent.
SALLY FINCHER is Lecturer in the Computing Laboratory at the University of Kent, UK, where she leads the Computer Education Research Group.

Table of Contents

GETTING STARTED
Who is this Book for?
What is Programming?
Everyone Makes Mistakes
YOUR FIRST PROGRAM
Before You Start
Writing Your First Program
The Nature of Errors
YOUR NEXT PROGRAMS
The Many Ways of Programming
Writing Bigger Programs
Becoming a Detective
IT ALL GETS INTERESTING
Grappling With Design
Writing Your Nth Program
Juggling all the Pieces
OTHER LANGUAGES
Why Do We Have Different Programming Languages?
Exploiting Your Programming Skills
Taking Programming Further
HERE BE DRAGONS
How Languages Differ
In Closing
References
Index.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This book is a significant achievement, meeting a desperate need for the kind of material that rarely finds its way into conventional, language-specific books on learning to program. It should be required reading for all students embarking on a course of study that involves some programming. - Nick Efford, University of Leeds, UK