Basics of Java – ATAFOM University

Course Overview:

In this class, you will acquire fundamental skills and concepts of computer programming through an object-oriented approach using Java. The course will cover various topics, including:

Classes and Objects: You will learn how to define and use classes, create objects from them, and understand the relationship between classes and objects.

Methods and Argument Passing: The course will cover the concept of methods and how to define and use them in Java. You will also learn about passing arguments to methods and returning values.

Loops: You will explore different types of loops in Java, such as the for loop, while loop, and do-while loop. These loops will be essential for performing repetitive tasks and iterating over data structures.

Problem Solving Abilities: The course will focus on enhancing your problem-solving skills, providing you with the necessary tools and techniques to approach programming challenges efficiently.

Additionally, you will delve into Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques, including:

Inheritance: You will learn about inheritance, which allows you to create new classes based on existing ones. This concept promotes code reuse and supports hierarchical relationships between classes.

Abstraction: The course will cover the concept of abstraction, enabling you to define abstract classes and interfaces. Abstraction allows you to create generalized models and hide implementation details.

Polymorphism: You will explore polymorphism, which allows objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. Polymorphism enables flexibility and extensibility in your code.

By the end of the course, you will have a solid foundation in Java programming, including object-oriented concepts, problem-solving skills, and the ability to build programs using Java’s features and constructs.

About The Course

In this class, you will acquire fundamental skills and concepts of computer programming through an object-oriented approach using Java. The course will cover various topics, including:

Classes and Objects: You will learn how to define and use classes, create objects from them, and understand the relationship between classes and objects.

Methods and Argument Passing: The course will cover the concept of methods and how to define and use them in Java. You will also learn about passing arguments to methods and returning values.

Problem Solving Abilities: The course will focus on enhancing your problem-solving skills, providing you with the necessary tools and techniques to approach programming challenges efficiently.

Additionally, you will delve into Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques, including:

Inheritance: You will learn about inheritance, which allows you to create new classes based on existing ones. This concept promotes code reuse and supports hierarchical relationships between classes.

The primary textbook for this course is:

“Java in Two Semesters” by Quentin Charatan and Aaron Kans

In addition to the recommended textbook, here are some other highly regarded Java books that you may find useful:

“Java: How to Program” by Deitel and Deitel

“Head First Java” by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates

“Effective Java” by Joshua Bloch

These books provide comprehensive coverage of Java programming and offer valuable insights into best practices and effective coding techniques.

Lecture One:

Slide 1:

Introduction:

The origin of Java:

The origin of Java can be traced back to multiple sources:

Geographic Origin: Java is an island in Indonesia, located south of Borneo and separated by the Java Sea.

Name Origin: The term “Java” is also associated with coffee. It is often used colloquially to refer to a cup of coffee, as in the phrase “Do you care for a cup of java?”

Programming Language Origin: The name “Java” was chosen as a trademark for a programming language, which was initially developed with a focus on internet-related applications. The creators of the language reportedly consumed large quantities of coffee (referred to as “java”) while developing it. The association between coffee and the programming language led to the selection of the name “Java.”

Developer: Java was originally developed by James Gosling, along with his team at Sun Microsystems. The language was initially named “Oak” after an oak tree that stood outside Gosling’s office. However, it was later renamed to “Java” due to trademark conflicts.

These origins, both geographical and linguistic, contribute to the unique name and identity of the Java programming language that is widely used today.

Java Programming Language.

Java is a widely used programming language known for its versatility and platform independence. Here are some key points about Java:

Popularity: As of 2015, Java was reported to have around 9 million developers and is considered one of the most popular programming languages, particularly for client-server web applications.

General-Purpose: Java is a general-purpose computer programming language, meaning it can be used to develop a wide range of applications for various domains.

Concurrent and Object-Oriented: Java supports concurrent programming, allowing multiple tasks to be executed simultaneously. It is also an object-oriented language, which means it follows the principles of encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction.

“Write Once, Run Anywhere” (WORA): Java was designed with the concept of WORA in mind. This means that Java applications can be developed on one platform (e.g., Windows) and then run on different platforms (e.g., Linux, macOS) without the need for recompilation. This is achieved through the use of the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), which interprets Java bytecode.

Developer and Origin: Java was originally developed by James Gosling and his team at Sun Microsystems (now owned by Oracle). The language was initially named “Oak” after an oak tree outside Gosling’s office but was later renamed to “Java.”

Java’s popularity, platform independence, and object-oriented nature have contributed to its widespread use in various industries and domains, making it a versatile and powerful programming language.

Ten characteristics of the Java programming language:

Simple: Java is designed to be easy to learn and use, with a syntax that is clear and straightforward.

Object-Oriented: Java follows an object-oriented programming paradigm, allowing for the organization of code into reusable objects and classes.

Distributed: Java provides features for building distributed applications, enabling communication and interaction between different systems over a network.

Interpreted: Java source code is compiled into bytecode, which is then interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) at runtime, making it platform-independent.

Robust: Java has built-in error checking and exception handling mechanisms, making it more resistant to errors and providing better reliability.

Secure: Java has security features built into its design, such as a bytecode verifier and a security manager, to protect against unauthorized access and malicious activities.

Architecture-Neutral: Java programs can run on any architecture or operating system that has a compatible JVM, ensuring platform independence.

Portable: Java’s platform independence allows applications to be developed on one system and run on another without the need for modification.

High Performance: Java is known for its performance due to its efficient just-in-time (JIT) compilation and optimization techniques.

Multithreaded: Java supports multithreading, allowing programs to execute multiple threads concurrently, enabling efficient utilization of system resources and concurrent programming.

These characteristics contribute to the versatility, reliability, and flexibility of the Java programming language, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.

Why Java.

Java offers several compelling reasons for its widespread adoption:

Platform Independence: Java’s “write once, run anywhere” capability allows code to be executed on any processor and operating system that supports Java. This portability is crucial for developing applications that can be deployed across different platforms.

Modern Object-Oriented Language: Java follows the object-oriented programming (OOP) paradigm, which is widely accepted and provides a structured and modular approach to designing and implementing software. OOP promotes code reusability, maintainability, and scalability.

Rich Library Packages: Java comes with an extensive collection of existing classes and libraries, collectively known as the Java API (Application Programming Interface). These libraries provide pre-built functionality for common tasks, saving development time and effort.

Versatile Application Development: Java can be used to develop various types of applications, including desktop applications, applets (embedded applications in web pages), server-side applications for dynamic web content generation, and mobile phone applications. This versatility allows developers to target different platforms and cater to diverse user needs.

Strong Community Support: Java has a large and active community of developers, which means there is a wealth of resources, documentation, and community-driven tools available. This support network fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement in the Java ecosystem.

Overall, Java’s platform independence, OOP principles, extensive libraries, and application versatility make it a popular choice for developing a wide range of software solutions.

Course Curriculum

Month 1: Week 1: Introduction to Python and Django

Introduction to Python programming language: Basic data types, control structures, functions, and modules in Python
Installing Python and Django: Installing Python and setting up a virtual environment, installing Django using pip
Creating a Django project: Creating a new Django project using the django-admin startproject command, overview of the project structure
Creating and running a Django application: Creating a new Django application using the python manage.py startapp command, running the development server

Week 2: Building a simple web application

Building a simple web application using Django: Creating views, templates, and URLs in Django
Creating views and templates: Creating a view function, rendering a template, passing context to the template
Handling URL requests: Creating URL patterns, using regular expressions in URL patterns, capturing URL parameters
Building a basic database schema: Overview of Django’s object-relational mapping (ORM), creating database models, creating a database schema

Week 3: Creating a robust database schema

Creating database models: Creating database models using Django’s ORM, defining fields and relationships between models
Creating relationships between models: Understanding foreign key, many-to-many, and one-to-one relationships in Django, creating relationships between models
Migrations and database schema changes: Overview of database migrations in Django, creating and applying migrations
Querying the database: Using Django’s ORM to query the database, retrieving objects, filtering, ordering, and aggregating data

Week 4: Adding user authentication and authorization

Adding user authentication and registration: Adding user authentication and registration to a Django application, creating login and registration views, using Django’s built-in authentication views and forms
Authorization and access control: Understanding Django’s permission system, adding permissions to models and views, controlling access to views
User roles and permissions: Understanding Django’s built-in user groups and permissions, creating custom user groups and permissions

Month 2: Week 1: Working with forms and templates

Creating and handling forms: Creating forms using Django’s form classes, handling form submissions in views, displaying form errors
Displaying form data in templates: Rendering form fields in templates, handling form submissions in templates, customizing form rendering
Form validation: Validating form data in Django, using built-in validators, creating custom validators

Week 2: Implementing APIs

Building APIs using Django Rest Framework: Overview of Django Rest Framework, creating serializers and views for APIs, using built-in API views
Serializing and deserializing data: Understanding serialization and deserialization in Django Rest Framework, using serializers to transform data between Python objects and JSON/XML
RESTful web services: Understanding the REST architectural style, implementing RESTful web services using Django Rest Framework

Week 3: Adding static files and media files

Adding CSS and JavaScript files to templates: Including static files in templates, using static template tags in templates, organizing static files
Working with static files: Configuring Django to serve static files, using static files in development and production environments, using third-party libraries for static files
Handling media files: Uploading and serving user-uploaded media files, handling file uploads in Django, using third-party libraries for media files

Week 4: Testing and debugging

Writing unit tests: Understanding unit testing in Django, creating unit tests for views, models, and forms, using testing utilities in Django
Debugging Django applications: Debugging techniques for Django applications, using Django’s debugging tools, setting up logging in Django
Error handling and logging: Handling errors in Django views and middleware, logging errors and events in

Month 3: Week 1: Choosing a project and setting up the development environment

Brainstorming project ideas: Identifying project requirements, user stories, and features
Choosing a project: Selecting a project based on personal interest and feasibility
Setting up the development environment: Setting up the development environment for the project, including installing the necessary software, configuring the database, and creating a virtual environment

Week 2: Designing the project architecture and database schema

Defining the project architecture: Identifying the high-level components and modules of the project, and how they will interact with each other
Creating a project roadmap: Breaking down the project into manageable milestones and tasks
Designing the database schema: Identifying the data models required for the project, and designing their relationships, fields, and constraints

Week 3: Implementing project functionality and features

Implementing the project backend: Creating views, serializers, models, and other backend functionality for the project, including authentication and authorization, APIs, and database interactions
Implementing the project frontend: Creating HTML templates, CSS stylesheets, and JavaScript code to create an interactive and responsive user interface for the project
Testing and debugging the project: Writing unit tests and integration tests to ensure the project functionality works as expected, and debugging any issues that arise

Week 4: Deploying and maintaining the project

Deploying the project: Deploying the project to a production environment, including configuring the web server, database, and other necessary components
Maintaining the project: Monitoring the project for issues and errors, updating the project with new features and functionality, and ensuring the project remains secure and up-to-date
Documenting the project: Writing documentation for the project, including user guides, technical documentation, and developer documentation, to ensure the project can be maintained and extended in the future.

Course Syllabus

Month 1: Introduction to Web Development Basics and Django Week 1:

Introduction to web development
HTML, CSS, and JavaScript basics
Setting up a development environment for Django

Week 2:

Introduction to Django framework
Creating a Django project and application
Understanding the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture

Week 3:

Building database models using Django’s Object-Relational Mapping (ORM)
Understanding Django’s URL routing system
Building views and templates

Week 4:

Building forms using Django’s Form API
Adding user authentication and authorization to a Django application
Deploying a Django application to a web server

Month 2: Advanced Django Development Week 5:

Month 2: Advanced Django Development

Week 5:

Week 6:

Integrating third-party services with a Django application
Building RESTful APIs with Django Rest Framework
Using Django’s testing framework to test applications

Week 7:

Working with Django’s built-in user authentication system
Creating custom user models and authentication backends
Implementing email verification and password reset functionality

Week 8:

Building custom admin panels with Django’s Admin site
Working with Django signals to automate tasks
Building custom management commands

Month 3: Project-Based Learning Weeks 9-12:

The final month of the course is dedicated to a project-based approach, where you will apply your knowledge to build a complete web application from start to finish.
You will work on the project in teams, collaborating with your peers to design, build, and deploy the application.
Throughout the month, you will receive feedback and guidance from the instructor and your peers to help you complete the project successfully.

By the end of the course, you will have gained a comprehensive understanding of web development using Django and the ability to build and deploy your own web applications using the Django framework.

Benefits of the Certification Program

Here are some of the benefits you can expect from taking the web development course using Django and earning a certification:

Career advancement: By acquiring web development skills and earning a certification, you can enhance your resume and open up new career opportunities in the tech industry.
High demand for Django developers: Django is a popular and widely used web development framework, and there is a high demand for developers with Django skills in the job market.
Practical, hands-on experience: The course is designed to be highly practical and hands-on, allowing you to gain real-world experience building web applications using Django.
Experienced instructors: The course is taught by experienced instructors who are experts in web development and Django. They will provide guidance and feedback to help you improve your skills and complete the course successfully.
Networking opportunities: You will have the opportunity to collaborate with your peers on projects and assignments, which can help you build a network of like-minded professionals in the tech industry.
Certification: Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certification that validates your skills and knowledge in web development using Django. This can enhance your credibility with potential employers and clients.
Flexibility: The course is designed to be flexible and accessible, with a combination of live sessions and self-paced learning materials that allow you to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.

Overall, the web development course using Django and the accompanying certification can help you advance your career, gain practical skills and experience, and enhance your credibility in the tech industry.