Monday, June 23, 2008

Debugging challenge


Spot the fault...

Assessment for the subject: Locating equipment, system and software faults will consist of a document listing various JavaScript faults, how they present themselves, what caused the error and how to fix it.

Run through this list of debugging challenges and choose 2 or 3 from each section: Lexical Errors; Syntactic Errors; Execution Errors; Logic Errors. Write up a short description of the problem (how it presented itself), what you found and how you fixed it. Screenshots would be handy.


Original image: 'Fixed' http://www.flickr.com/photos/27384730@N00/109566859
by: Mike Fernwood

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

fine tuning

We finished automating processes last week, looking at breaking down larger programs into sub-routines and procuedures. Next week we'll put the final nail in with a short quiz.

We followed that up with a look at functions and objects in JavaScript (which wasn't all that interesting), and revisited variables and data types (which was more relevant, if no more gripping)

We finished up with another look at locating equipment, system and software faults specifically, task 2: obtaining fault finding tools. To be honest, I'm not all that happy with these course notes (the readings are fine, but the activities seem too nebulous) - so I'm going to revert back to my original plan for this subject - concentrating mostly on debugging code, with a passing nod at equipment and some discussion of systems.

So, for task 2 I'd prefer that people investigated options for debugging JavaScript - either in the browser or using a stand-alone solution. Write up a blog post that discusses the options available for your platform of choice. Don't forget to include a description of that platform - versions and types of operating system and browser (if applicable).

The report should be about 500 words in length and should be ready for comment by next week.

Speaking of next week - we're going to make a start on 'Run standard diagnostic tests'. I had planned on testing web site performance, but have been told that the Cert III I.T. class will be attending the class too - and they've got no prior experience with web technologies, so we might need to take a different approach. Given that we've only got two weeks to cover the subject this will be a busy lesson - so don't be late :-)



Image: 'scroll & peg'
www.flickr.com/photos/46534015@N00/1899595427

Monday, June 02, 2008

looping

Last week saw us spiraling out of control... exploring loops.

Try these revision questions, and a new, improved cloze test on while loops.

We also learned how to use JavaScript to validate a form on a web page, looking at form fields and loops in the process!

Finally, we started on the first task for Locate equipment, system and software faults... Identifying appropriate information gathering techniques



Image: 'Vatican Museum Spiral Stairs'
www.flickr.com/photos/57954193@N00/202549889