Sunday, May 25, 2008

thinking back on it

revising last week's programming lessons...




Image: 'thinking'
www.flickr.com/photos/83476873@N00/110993877

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

good news


... also: for those of you keen to start on the module 'Locate equipment, system and software faults' I've uploaded some material for you to play with. See http://bathurst-tafe.nsw.edu.au/~pshanks/ICAT4221A/index.htm (or http://192.168.201.2/~pshanks/ICAT4221A/index.htm if you're trapped inside the firewall)



Image: 'untitled'
www.flickr.com/photos/88997175@N00/104197534

Monday, May 19, 2008

need... more... oxygen...



Today's epic journey started in the plains of if-then-else before ascending the foothills of datatypes. It finished with an attempt on the icy peaks of JavaScript selections. This was a tough climb, but what a view there is from the top!

Believe it or not, this is as high as we're going to ascend. Next week we'll stay at this altitude for a short while, exploring the whacky world of loops before descending back to sea level.



Image: 'Peak of Snæfellsjökull in clouds'
www.flickr.com/photos/25147065@N00/506183053

Monday, May 12, 2008

exercise


Some calisthenics for your brain...

1. Cut and paste the JavaScript code from the 'she's apples' entry below and then format it so each block of code is correctly indented.
2. Try out the Cloze test for IPO Models
3. Attempt the 'Develop an algorithm' quiz
4. Click randomly on terms and definitions in the JavaScript cloze test




Image: 'My name is Charles Atlas'
www.flickr.com/photos/37912374286@N01/98379123

she's apples



Today we looked at developing algorithms.

This was followed by a quick look at JavaScript in JavaScript Basics, Part 1.

Extending the lesson a little we came up with the following super-apple-eating algorithm...

<script type="text/javascript">
var apples = 5;
alert('there are currently ' apples ' apples');
var eat = prompt('How many apples would you like to eat?', '1');
if (parseInt(eat))
{
if (parseInt(eat)>apples)
{
alert("don't be greedy!");
} else {
apples -= parseInt(eat);
if (apples > 0)
{
if (apples == 1)
{
alert('There is only one apple left!');
} else {
alert('Now there are only ' apples ' apples!');
}
} else {
alert('no more apples for you!');
}
}
} else {
alert('there are still ' apples ' apples');
}

</script>




Image: 'Granny Smith'
www.flickr.com/photos/90581837@N00/78379799

Sunday, May 11, 2008

making a splash - refreshing your knowledge


Time to reinforce those little lessons we learned last week. Try out these questions on trainingo2.net, and then take a few minutes to pit your wits on the cloze test for pseudocode.





Image: 'Grapefruit Splash'
www.flickr.com/photos/11419506@N08/2272752165

Monday, May 05, 2008

today's exciting installment

This week we continued our exploration of the programming landscape.

After a quick bash at a cloze test on syntax, we created and worked through a new page on algorithms (including the creation of our first bit of javascript).

Wasn't that all fun? \*(^_^)*/



Image: '2008-03-04 (Field Guide to GP photos) - 05'
www.flickr.com/photos/68457656@N00/2322867309

Sunday, May 04, 2008

pop quiz


To recap what we covered last week in our first automate processes lesson, jump on over to trainingo2.net and try out this quick quiz



Image: 'Jellypops'
www.flickr.com/photos/99136715@N00/51613644

Thursday, May 01, 2008

buried treasure


I know you're all very busy, but if you get some time you should check out the resources on Smashing Magazine's Best Of April 2008 page - some of this stuff is gold.



Image: 'buried treasure'
www.flickr.com/photos/35468137797@N01/64228609