Assignments and Projects

• Madlib Project
• Pig Latin Translator Project
• First GUI Project
• GUI Event Handling Project
• GUI Timers Project
• Critter (Tamagotchi) Project
• Pong Game Project
• Final Project
  • Design Document Rubric
  • Game Rubric

Guides and Pointers

• Basics
  • Hello World ... getting to know the IDE and writing your first program!
  • Fundamentals of Software Design ... in a really tiny nutshell
  • Basic Flowchart Symbols ... how to visualize your algorithm
  • Deskchecking ... how do you make sure your algorithm actually works?
  • Decisions & Loops ... basic control statements
  • Flowcharts to code ... how to write code given a flowchart
  • Anatomy of a loop ... what does it take to repeat a task?
  • Intro to Variables ... how does my program remember information?
• Strings
  • Strings in C# ... basic overview of strings
  • A look inside strings ... strings as a collection/array
  • Formatting text ... how to display strings
  • Substring ... getting a part of a string
  • Split ... breaking a string into pieces
  • Foreach loops ... looping easily through lists
• Classes
  • Encapsulation ... intro to classes
  • Methods and Fields ... what goes in classes
  • Instance vrs. static ... using classes
  • Creating a class
• Sprites (2D Graphics)
  • Timers: making things happen on a regular basis.
  • Moving sprites around the screen
  • Keeping sprites on the screen
  • Collision detection - when sprites hit each other
  • Randomness - when the unexpected is a good thing
  • Sprites moving on their own
  • Game state and getting two sprites to move at the same time
• Sprites (2D Graphics) ... more advanced ...
  • Dynamically creating controls - now you see them, now you don't
  • Handling events for dynamically created controls - click me if you can!
  • Faster graphics - user control of painting the screen
  • More objects, I want more! - when and how to make something a class
  • More is not enough, I want TONS! - creating and controlling tons of sprites
• A* Pathfinding (advanced topic)
  • Ray Wenderlich's Intro to A* Pathfinding (great starting point)
  • A* Pathfinding for Beginners
  • Amit's A* Pages
  • Gamasutra's "Toward More Realistic Pathfinding"