Resources

Course Materials

Required Software & Equipment

Students will be provided with most required hardware & software by the school computer lab. However, there are other resources that students are strongly encouraged to bring with them to class to assist their progress in the course. Students are strongly encouraged to set up a computer with the required software at home as well.

If a student brings a laptop to class, the teacher may assist as needed to install the required software. It is advised to do this setup early on in the course.

At minimum, students should have access to:

A computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) with an internet connection;
Headphones/Headset, to listen to videos and tutorials without disturbing your classmates;
Flash and Shockwave players (to view some demonstrations and evidence of learning activities) -- generally a free download; (Please note that Chrome has removed their support for Flash players in December 2020, however a standalone player is available from these links: Windows, MacOS, Linux)
A GitHub account, available for free through the GitHub website
The Eclipse IDE for Java Developers (installed on school computers).
For the bonus unit ONLY, you will also need the Java SE 8 JDK from Oracle (installed on school computers);

Note: You will need to create an Oracle Account to access the JDK. Please use the school contact information when contact information is required.
NEW (August 2025) Make sure that you download version 8_441 or earlier to ensure that JavaFX is bundled. See your teacher for help with this.

Google Drive, Docs, Sheets & Hapara, using the @stu.ocsb.ca account provided by the school;
LucidChart, an extension for Google Docs, linked to student's @stu.ocsb.ca account;
Media player (to view streamed video), generally a free download, if not already included with your browser;

Textbook

While there is no official textbook for this course, here are some online textbooks that you may find useful:

Links

Below are some other links that you may find useful:

Tips for Success

Get ready to enjoy the excitement and challenge of programming using Java! In this course you will write and test computer programs, using various problem solving strategies, and will apply a software development life cycle to model to a software development project. You will also learn about computer environments and systems, and explore environmental issues related to computers, safe computing practices, emerging technologies, and post secondary opportunities in computer-related fields.

Listed below you will find some reminders to help you to be successful.

Check your @stu.ocsb.ca email regularly for updates and announcements!
Check the calendar for due dates! It is your responsibility to meet these dates. If you have a problem with a due date, contact Mrs. Spindler.
Regularly review assignment and evaluation criteria when completing assignments. Make a checklist to ensure that you have included everything, in the proper manner, and submitted it as requested by the due date. This again is your responsibility.
Check and recheck the assignment rubrics. These documents hold a lot of important information that will help you achieve success in the course.
Programming is a difficult skill to master. The key is repetition, repetition, and more repetition. When activities are assigned, make sure you step through them and complete the programs, but also go back and review things you aren't sure of. You might even want to create small programs on your own, just to review important code.
The content pages hold the majority of new information for each activity. If you are struggling with an assignment, you may want to review the content page several times in order to become very familiar with the material.
Don't be afraid to ask for help!

Assignment Submission

I have made every effort to ensure fair and equitable due dates for all students.

The due dates on the calendar and in Hapara are meant primarily as a pacing guideline. However, failure to complete the tasks reasonably close (within 2-3 days) to the provided due dates will hinder my ability to give you prompt feedback. Excessively late assignments run the risk of missing board mandated reporting timelines.

If you are unable to meet a due date, you must send me an EMAIL by the end of the period that the assignment is due, indicating the reason(s) why the assignment is late, and the date you expect your assignment will be ready to submit. (This is only for major unit assignments, not daily activities.) You will CC your parent/guardian on this email so they are aware.

If you use sample code from the Internet, you MUST provide the web address of the tutorial or forum where you learned the code. Failure to do so may result in your assignment NOT being considered for assessment. Using another student's code is also considered a violation of academic integrity. You are encouraged to share IDEAS, but don't share CODE.

Students must submit the daily tasks and assignments online as follows:

Written assignments will be submitted through Hapara.
Coding assignments will be submitted through GitHub AND the corresponding evidence card in Hapara will be used to indicate task completion.

Any task/assignment is subject to a verbal follow-up