Timeline Week 2

Week 2 -- Intro to Programming, JavaScript, TDD

• Intro to Programming:
  • Basic Types, Variables, and Operators
  • Conditionals and Loops
  • Functions and Callbacks
• Running JavaScript via node
• Basic TDD with node.assert
• Writing pseduo-code and logical diagramming
• Interactive debugging via C9 and Chrome

Objectives

Students should be competent at:

• Writing vanilla JavaScript:
  • given significant structure
  • to solve logical problems
  • in a test-driven manner
  • with simple assert statements
• Running JavaScript from the CLI:
  • via the node binary
  • via the mocha script
  • continuously with --watch
• Pair programming with multiple partners:
  • Pilot-Copilot style
  • Ping-Pong style
  • Randori style with the class

Students should be familiar with:

• Experimenting with JavaScript in:
  • the Cloud 9 IDE "Immediate" REPL
  • the Chrome JavaScript Console
  • the node REPL
• All basic types in JavaScript:
  • Null
  • Undefined
  • Number
  • String
  • Boolean
  • Array as List
  • Object as Hash
• Methods of the basic types, e.g. String.length, String.slice(), Number.toFixed()
• Named function definitions and invocations:
  • with and without parameters
  • with variable parameters
• Conditional statements and guard clauses
• Looping statements with while and for
• Breaking down problems into pseudo-code within code comments
• Deleting and re-writing code in iterations
• Logical digramming of blocks and conditions

Students should be exposed to:

• Complex problem domains via Conway's Game
• Various forms of refactoring:
  • decomposing conditionals
  • conditional chains to lookup
  • extract method / variable
  • replace literal
  • replace with guard

Projects

I should build...

• Very basic math and string operations:
  • 1 + 1 vs '1' + '1'
  • 1 - 1 vs '1' - '1'
  • 'one' - 'one'
• Basic calculator functions:
  • plus(a, b)
  • minus(a, b)
  • star(a, b)
  • slash(a, b)
• String Calculator Kata (addition)
  • add('zero', 'zero') === 0
  • add('zero', 'one') === 1
  • add('one', 'one') === 2
  • add('one', 'two') === 3
  • add('two', 'two') === 4
  • refactor to data provider
• Check Writing Kata (<10)
  • toString(1) === 'one dollar & 00/100s'
  • toString(2) === 'two dollars & 00/100s'
  • toString(3.14159) === 'three dollars and 14/100s'
• Project Euler Problems (Randori Kata)
  • #1: Sum of 3s and 5s < 1000
  • #2: Sum of even Fibonaccis < 4M

They should build...

• Individually and in Pairs
• With TDD via require('assert')
• Running from the CLI with:
  • node filename.js
  • mocha filename.js
  • mocha --watch filename.js
• String Calculator via:
  • chained conditionals
  • checkpoints: 'ten', 'twenty', 'thirty', 'fifty', etc
  • refactored to lookup
• Check Writing via:
  • chained conditionals
  • checkpoints: 0-10, 10-20, 20-30, 30-50, etc
  • refactored to lookup
• Project Euler Problems 1 & 2
• Chess Board as Array (from MDN)
  • with "Catalan: Closed" opening
  • with "Catalan: Closed" opening + midgame
  • refactored to array of step functions