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Learning to Program with Alice, 3rd edition

Published by Pearson (February 25, 2011) © 2012

  • Wanda P Dann Carnegie Melon Unviersity
  • Randy Pausch
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Appropriate for all one-semester pre-CS1 and computer literacy courses, and for integration into the first weeks of many introductory CS1 courses.

Alice was designed to make programming concepts easier to teach and learn. In the Third Edition of Learning to Program with Alice, Alice's creators offer a complete full-color introduction to the interactive Alice programming environment. The authors make extensive use of program visualization to establish an easy, intuitive relationship between program constructs and the 3D graphics animation action in Alice. Students discover how Alice blends traditional problem-solving techniques with Hollywood-style storyboarding. Fundamental object-oriented programming concepts and language syntax are taught independently. Programming concepts can be taught from either an objects-first or an objects-early approach, with an optional early introduction to events. The book's Java-like syntax allows students to view their program code, simplifying their transitions to Java, C++, C#, or other object-oriented languages. This new edition includes over 60% revised exercises and a "sneak peek" at Alice 3.0.


Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xxi

About the Authors xxiii

Part I: Introduction to Alice 1

1 Getting Started with Alice 3

1-1 Introduction to Alice 3

1-2 Alice Concepts 8

Tips & Techniques 1: Special Effects: Text and 2D Graphic Images 15

Summary 18

Exercises 19

2 Program Design and Implementation 22

2-1 Scenarios and Storyboards 22

2-2 A First Program 29

Tips & Techniques 2: Orientation and Movement Instructions 43

Summary 57

Exercises 59

3 Programming: Putting Together the Pieces 62

3-1 Built-in Functions and Expressions 63

3-2 Simple Control Structures 68

Tips & Techniques 3: Camera and Animation Controls 76

Summary 81

Exercises 83

Part II: Object-Oriented and Event-Driven Programming

Concepts 87

4 Classes, Objects, Methods and Parameters 89

4-1 World-Level Methods 91

4-2 Parameters 100

4-3 Object-Level Methods and Inheritance 110

Tips & Techniques 4: Visible and Invisible Objects 121

Summary 127

Exercises and Projects 129

5 Interaction: Events and Event Handling 140

5-1 Interactive Programming 140

5-2 Parameters and Event Handling Methods 147

Tips & Techniques 5: Creating Your Own People Models 156

Summary 158

Exercises and Projects 159

Part III: Using Functions and Control Statements 171

6 Functions and If/Else 173

6-1 Functions 173

6-2 Execution Control with If/Else and Boolean Functions 180

Tips & Techniques 6: Random Numbers and Random Motion 196

Summary 199

Exercises and Projects 201

7 Repetition: Definite and Conditional Loops 213

7-1 Loops 213

7-2 While—a Conditional Loop 219

Tips & Techniques 7: Events and Repetition 225

Summary 228

Exercises and Projects 229

8 Repetition: Recursion 239

8-1 Introduction to Recursion 239

8-2 Another Flavor of Recursion 244

Tips & Techniques 8: Engineering Look and Feel 254

Summary 257

Exercises and Projects 258

Part IV: Advanced Topics 265

9 Lists and List Processing 267

9-1 Lists 267

9-2 List Search 273

Tips & Techniques 9: Groups 277

Summary 279

Exercises and Projects 280

10 Variables and Revisiting Inheritance 289

10-1 Variables 289

10-2 An Array Visualization Using an Index Variable 300

Tips & Techniques 10: Debugging with Watch and Text Output 308

Summary 312

Exercises and Projects 313

11 What’s Next? 322

11-1 Transition to Java 322

11-2 Alice 3 327

Tips & Techniques 11: Poses 328

Appendix A: Using Alice 331

Part 1: Running Virtual Worlds in Alice 331

Part 2: Using Popup Menus to Create an Initial Scene 345

Appendix B: Managing the Alice Interface 350

Index 363

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