Course Description:

Gentle Java™ and OO Development Using Rational™ Application Developer (RAD)

Gentle Java and OO Development is geared to audiences with no background in Object-Oriented programming or Java. It uses a steady pace and numerous hands-on labs to provide an easy entry into the world of Java and OO Programming.

Java is one of the most important programming languages used today, and its correct usage is a critical part of many systems being written now. The basics of the language are relatively easy, but the challenge lies in learning how to use it well. This is especially true regarding the Object-Oriented nature of Java, which for many developers is a new way of approaching system design and construction.

This course covers the core OO and Java concepts that developers need to use the Java programming language to create well designed Java programs. It focuses on key OO capabilities and how to use them in Java. This includes material on creating well designed Java classes, using encapsulation, building more complex functionality with composition, and using inheritance to share functionality and create specialized types.

This course is suitable for environments using Java 1.4, Java 5, or Java 6. The material includes coverage of all the new Java capabilities, such as Generic Collection classes, and clearly points out which capabilities are supported in which environment. All labs are doable in any of the supported Java environments.

This course draws on our extensive experience to provide a solid understanding of the concepts and practices needed to write good object oriented programs in Java. Be prepared to work hard and learn a great deal! This course can be followed by our Intermediate Java course. The course can be held on-site & customized to fit your needs.

All labs are done using the RAD Development Environment, and the lab instructions include detailed directions on using RAD and the RAD wizards and tools.

Course Information

Duration: 4 days

Hands-on: 50% hands-on, 50% lecture

Supported Platforms: Bare Sun JDK, IBM RAD, Eclipse

Skills Gained:

Understand Java’s importance, uses, strengths and weaknesses
Understand Java language basics
Write, compile, and run Java programs
Understand the Object Model and Object Oriented Programming
Understand and use classes, inheritance, polymorphism
Create well designed classes and use them in your Java programs
Use composition and delegation to create objects from other objects
Understand & use packages to organize code
Learn good Java coding style
Create well structured Java programs
Compile and execute programs with the Sun Java 2 development tools and with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of your choice
Use the new features of Java 5.0

Course Details:

Java Basics

Java Overview
Java’s “Hello World” Program
Language and Platform Features
Program Lifecycle
The Java Software Development Kit (JDK)
Basic Java concepts and syntax (as needed)
LABS:
- Hello World: A Simple Application
- Basic Java Programming

Class and Object Basics

Object-Oriented (OO) Programming Overview
The Object Model
Classes and Data Members
Object References and Creating Objects
LABS:
- Exploring Types
- Identity and Object References
- Defining and Using Classes and Objects
- Instance Variables

More on Classes and Objects

Working with Methods and Data, Method Overloading
Access Protection, public and private Access
Constructors and Initialization
static (or Class) methods
Garbage Collection, the finalize() Method
LABS:
- Using Methods and Encapsulation
- Writing and Using Constructors
- [Optional] Static Members
- Using the Debugger

Flow of Control

Branching Statments
- logical operators
- if-else, switch,
Iteration Statements
- while, do-while, for
- break and continue
LABS:
- Flow of Control, Data Validation

Strings and Arrays

String, StringBuffer, and StringBuilder
Arrays
LABS:
- Using Strings and Arrays

Packages - Managing Complexity

Packages Overview - Using packages to organize code
import Statement
Creating Packages, and Package Directory Structure
Classpath and Finding Classes
LAB: Using Packages to Organize Code

Composition and Inheritance

Using Composition to Create complex classes
Composition/HAS-A, Delegation
Using Inheritance to Derive Specific Types From General Types
Overriding Methods, Using Polymorphism
Class Object
Abstract Classes
LABS:
- Using Composition
- Using Inheritance to Specialize Classes

Overview of Additional Concepts

Interfaces
Exceptions
JDBC
Collections Framework
Java 6 - What's New