Gf0100: objects first with greenfoot

Table of contents

• Preface
• Overview
  • A visual interactive programming environment
  • Greenfoot is not a toy
  • The Greenfoot gallery
• Software
  • Software to download and install
  • Stand alone software
• Running Greenfoot
  • The installed version
  • The stand alone version
• Textbook and tutorials
  • The textbook
  • The tutorials
    • Written tutorials
    • Video tutorials
    • Other possibilities
• What comes next after Greenfoot
• Miscellaneous

Preface

If you are new to programming and want to learn how to program, or if you have programming experience but are new to object-oriented programming (OOP) and want to learn OOP, I can't think of a better way to take that first step than through the use of Greenfoot .

Greenfoot provides a set of interactive visual tools coupled with the Java programming language that makes learning to program both interesting andproductive.

(Note that descriptions of the Greenfoot website contained herein are current as of 02/19/13.)

Overview

A visual interactive programming environment

The greenfoot overview page describes Greenfoot as an Interactive Visual World that "...teaches object orientation with Java."

When programming with Greenfoot, you "Create 'actors' which live in 'worlds' to build games, simulations, and other graphicalprograms."

Greenfoot is both instructive and enjoyable because it is visual and interactive. Visualization and interaction tools are built into the programmingenvironment.

Unlike Scratch and Alice (two programming environments for beginners that use a drag-and-drop approach to programming) , Greenfoot actors "are programmed in standard textual Java code, providing a combination of programming experience in a traditional text-basedlanguage with visual execution."

According to Wikipedia ,

"Greenfoot is an interactive Java development environment designed primarily for educational purposes at the high school and undergraduate level. It allows easy developmentof two-dimensional graphical applications, such as simulations and interactive games.

Greenfoot is being developed and maintained at the University of Kent and La Trobe University , with support from Oracle . It is free software, released under the GPL license. Greenfoot is available for Microsoft Windows , Mac OS X , Linux , Sun Solaris , and any recent JVM ."

Continuing with Wikipedia ,

"Greenfoot aims to motivate learners quickly by providing easy access to animated graphics, sound and interaction. The environment is highly interactiveand encourages exploration and experimentation. Pedagogically, the design is based on constructivist and apprenticeship approaches.

Secondly, the environment is designed to illustrate and emphasize important abstractions and concepts of object-oriented programming. Conceptssuch as the class/object relationship, methods, parameters, and object interaction are conveyed through visualizations and guided interactions. Thegoal is to build and support a mental model that correctly represents modern object-oriented programming systems."