Skip to main content

CST 338 - Week 5

This week, we wrote an extension of our card game application and made it GUI based by implementing Swing, a classic Java framework designed for building GUI applications.

GUI Programming comes late in learning Java for a good reason - programmers working with GUIs must understand event-based programming, how to implement interfaces and abstract classes, and how to deal complex files such as images graphics instead of just primitive data types. I don't think that learning all of this late is harmful since it requires a pretty good understanding of a lot of Java concepts, and learning event-based programming is somewhat difficult the first time around since everything is quite abstract. 

Swing, from my experience this week, seems like a primitive way to make GUI based applications, and the hardest part for me was adding each GUI element and getting it positioned and working correctly. I've worked with more modern GUI development platforms and they make creating a window, adding media/elements/buttons to it much more streamlined. A big advantage of these modern tools is allowing the user to design a GUI without writing a single line of code. 

I felt like this week's assignment was quite tough, but it was good preparation( and a refresher for me) for the upcoming Android module, as Android took many of the same concepts from Swing and event-based programming during its development.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

CST 300 - Week 4

Educational Goals My current educational goals are to finish my bachelor's degree in computer science while also gaining a deep understanding of the fundamentals along the way. I have always believed that a solid understanding of the fundamentals goes a long way in any skill since you always refer back to them. When I have gotten stuck on a problem or some skill in the past, I have always taken a step back, broken down things into smaller pieces and remembered my fundamentals, and doing so has helped me through a lot of academic and professional work so far. Although I already know basic programming and data structures, I want to learn more about them and discover new ways of thinking in order to solve complex problems.  Career Goals I started a career as a full-time software test analyst about two months ago. Even though my job doesn't involve a lot of programming, getting a degree in computer science would be really helpful in all aspects of my career, such as identif...

The Final Journal

It's the end of a long, four year journey, and what a journey it has been. I never thought I could pull off finishing my second bachelor's degree four years ago when I first went to that introduction to programming class at my community college. I would like to thank all the friends I've made along the way and the people who have helped me through the last two years. Although it was difficult at times taking class while working 40+ hours a week, I'm proud of myself for making it through. I don't think I'll be a student enrolled in classes anytime soon, but I'll always be a lifelong student. See you all around.

CST 300 - Week 2

Introduction This was a busy week for class! I started writing the first draft of my paper and got it done in a few days. It took a lot of thinking and research to get it done, but I'm glad I didn't procrastinate. Revising the first draft might take quite and effort as well. In the past when I would write geological reports, I found revising them was the hardest part. Part I. Speaking of hardest part, time management is something I am still getting used to, especially with this week's workload. Out of the items in the time management article, the top 3 things I feel like I am best at are: Creating a good study space Taking notes Reading  However, I could use some work on: Sticking to a schedule Revising lecture notes (on time) Studying within 30 min. of going to sleep Part II. Here's the activity log I filled out. It documented one of my Mondays at work. Part III. Project management skills are something I feel like I don't have enoug...