CS 185C/286 - Lecture 0

Cay S. Horstmann

CS 185C/286

• Introduction to mobile programming
• For green sheet, contact information, etc., see http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/cay.horstmann
• Learn to program on mobile platforms
• Learn to architect applications with mobile and web components
• Learn good software engineering habits

Why Mobile?

• The desktop is sooo 1990s
• Who needs a desktop or laptop in 2013?
• Ok, you and me
• 99% of the population are content consumers, not content creators
• Mobile form factors (phone, tablet) are convenient and sufficient for them

Phases of Computing Technology

1. Mainframes
2. Minicomputers
3. Workstations
4. Personal computers
5. Mobile

Crossing the Chasm

• New technologies replace existing ones in disruptive ways
• Initially, new technology is cheap but inferior
• Incumbents can't afford to compete in cheap market
• New technology improves and becomes good enough for most use cases
• Incumbents retreat to the profitable high-value end of the market
• New technology continues to improve and replaces incumbents

Topics

• Android programming
• iOS
• Server-side architecture
• Tablets
• HTML5
• Vendor presentations about other platforms and devices (Windows phone, BlackBerry, Samsung S-Pen)

Projects

• Group projects
• 4 people per group
• Theme: Cinequest applications
• Android, iPhone, tablets, HTML5 vs native
• Alternatives: Other platforms and devices
• If you have an idea, propose it

Graduate Students

• Must register for CS286
• Graduate option course in the “Specialty” area
• Do research on an assigned topic
• Write a paper
• Give a presentation

Active Learning

• No couch potatos!
• You read the book before class
• Exercises during lectures
• You need your laptop for every lecture
• In-class lab
• Lots of homework
• You only learn by doing
• You only learn if you do it yourself

Plagiarism

• When you submit work, it must be your intellectual creation
• Can you copy and paste?
• Ok if you attribute the source
• You can discuss your work with others
• You can post excerpts on a public discussion forum for critique
• Don't email code to your “friend”—you don't know what the recipient will do with it
• If I find plagiarism, I don't play Sherlock Holmes to find who wrote it—I report both

Your Responsibilities

• Come to every class meeting
• Do the assigned reading before class.
• Spend 9 hours per week for this class
  • 2.5 hours in class
  • 6.5 hours (!) for preparation, homework, and projects
• Ask questions right away when you are stuck

Homework

• Homework is due every Monday evening 6 pm
• You submit via git
• Grace period for uploading until 11:59 pm
  • Don't rely on it—get it done by 6 pm
  • No mercy after midnight

Lab

• Bring your laptop to the lab
• You will work with a buddy
• One of you writes code, the other types up answers
• Switch roles each lab
• Submit lab work to git

Questions

• You will be stuck
  • A lot
  • I am too, all the time
• It is really important to ask questions
• Ask questions on Piazza, the online discussion board
• You get points for asking questions
• You get points for answering questions
• Private or confidential questions—email or office hours

Textbooks

• Books are available through the university Safari subscription
• See the course page for links
• Read the textbook before each class meeting
• There will be a quiz at the beginning of class about the reading
• See the course page for reading assignments
• Reading for Tuesday: Programming Android Chapter 1

Prerequisites

• Competent in Java
• Competent in C (not C++), e.g. strcpy, fread
• Basic software engineering skills (build automation, revision control)
• Comfortable with Linux/Unix system and command-line tools
• If you are already registered, take the prerequisite quiz by next Monday
• If you don't, I will drop you from the class for lack of prerequisites.

Adding

• Take the prerequisite quiz
• Email to Cay.Horstmann@sjsu.edu
• I will send you an add code when space becomes available.
• Use it within 24 hours, or it will become invalid

Preparing Your Laptop

• You need to be able to run Linux on your laptop
• Any version of Linux is fine, but if you don't already have one, use Lubuntu
• Ok to run in VirtualBox
• It's easy. Install VirtualBox. Download the Lubuntu ISO (32 bit). Install it.
• Install the guest additions
• Install the Oracle JDK, not OpenJDK from the Ubuntu repos.

Reading Before Next Class

• Programming Android Ch. 1

Things To Do Today

• Log into Piazza
• Upload a photo into your Piazza profile so I know who you are
• Do the prerequisite quiz and send it in
• Read chapter 1 of Programming Android
• Install the Android SDK on your laptop

Questions? Comments?