Required Pre-Work
We can’t wait to get started, so we’ve outlined a few pre-work assignments for you below. This pre-work will prepare you to hit the ground running and should be completed prior to the first day of class. To ensure that you make the most of this learning experience, complete each pre-work component in succession—you’ll find an example timeline on page two. Some of the tutorials below will require a paid CodeAcademy account in order to unlock every lesson—feel free to just work through the free lessons, unless you already have an account. As always, let us know if you have any questions. Have fun and we’ll see you soon!
The Command Line (3 Hours)
The command line is a powerful tool, even though you may have never seen it as a casual computer user. In this course, we are going to spend a lot of time in the command line, and we will use it every day to manage our files and tell our computer how to run our programs. To prepare you, complete CodeAcademy’s Learn The Command Line course.
Git and GitHub (1 hour)
In order to work collaboratively, preserve the version history of our code and create an online portfolio of our work, we’ll be using Git and GitHub. Complete the Try Git course in order to get a feel for how Git and GitHub work on the command line.
Learning Java Basics (2 HOURS)
In order to familiarize yourself with cross-language programming basics like data types, functions, conditionals, and control flow, complete units 1 and 2 of CodeAcademy’s Learn Java course. (If you already completed these lessons as part of the admissions process, feel free to skip them, unless you feel like you could use a refresher on Java before the course)
Learning Object Oriented Programming in Java (2 HOURS)
In order to deepen your understanding of object-oriented programming in Java, complete units 3 and 4 of CodeAcademy’s Learn Java course. (If you already completed these lessons as part of the admissions process, feel free to skip them, unless you feel like you could use a refresher on Java before the course)
XML Basics (20 MINS)
XML is a markup language that’s similar to HTML. In this course, we’ll be using XML to lay out parts of our Android applications. To learn the fundamentals of XML, watch this video.