Exploring Wonderland: Java Programming Using Alice and Media Computation

Fundamental programming concepts are introduced using Alice and media computation examples to facilitate an easier transition to Java. KEY TOPICS: Getting Started with Alice; Program Design and Implementation in Alice; Object Oriented Concepts in Alice; Working with Objects in Java; Drawing in Java; Functions and Conditionals in Alice; Repetition: Loops in Alice; Modifying all Samples in a Sound in Java; Modifying Samples using Ranges; Modifying Pictures using Loops; Modifying Pixels in a Matrix; Conditionally Modifying Pixels; Creating Classes; Creating and Modifying Text; Repetition: Recursion in Alice; Speed; Encoding, Manipulating, and Creating Movies; Abstract Classes, Polymorphism, and Inheritance. MARKET: This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in video games or animated films that wants to learn programming in an approachable and intuitive manner.

Dr. Wanda Dann recently accepted the Directorship of the Alice Research Project at Carnegie Mellon University.  She has been an active member of the Alice team for the last decade. Wanda's research interests include visualization in programming and programming languages and innovative approaches to introductory programming. She has published multiple papers on the use of program visualization in programming languages and its use in teaching and learning introductory computer programming. Dann’s papers and articles have appeared in ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Inroads, the Computer Science Education Journal, and other related publications. Dr. Dann is the lead author of Learning to Program with Alice (2006, Prentice-Hall) and Learning to Program with Alice, Brief Edition (2007, Prentice Hall). She is also a distinguished contributor to professional Computer Science educator groups and has served as ACM’s SIGCSE Technical Symposium publications editor and as ACM’s SIGCSE Symposium chair. She was recently elected to serve as a member of the SIGCSE Board and is the SIGCSE-CSTA liaison. Dr. Dann received a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Syracuse University.

Stephen Cooper is an Associate Professor of Computer Science and the Director for the Center for Visualization at Saint Joseph's University. He taught previously at Rivier College, serving as Computer Science program director. He has also worked at IBM as a systems programmer. Dr. Cooper's research interests lie in the semantics of programming languages as well as in program visualization. He is the author or co-author of a dozen articles, and has been the principal investigator for several National Science Foundation and private grants.

Barbara Ericson is a research scientist and the Director of Computing Outreach for the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. She has been working on improving introductory computing education for over 5 years. She is currently the teacher education representative on the Computer Science Teachers Association board and the co-chair of the K-12 Alliance for the National Center for Women in Information Technology. She enjoys the diversity of the types of problems she has worked on over the years in computing including computer graphics, artificial intelligence, medicine, and object-oriented programming.