Writing a computer program is an abstract task, and there's little in our natural day-to-day activities that prepare us for it. Nevertheless, the knowledge of how to write programs and solve problems must come from somewhere. Reading the textbook and attending class or watching the videos is an absolute requirement.
Course Videos
The textbook follows the typical organization of chapters divided into sections. Most chapter sections have course videos located at the top of the section, below the section name. Occasionally, the video links are located below the sub-section headings, especially when the section has multiple videos. Videos for chapters at the end of the text are currently in progress, and some sections intensionally do not have videos. Most videos are PowerPoint slideshows similar to classroom presentations of the related material. Online students should watch these videos in place of attending class. All students may watch the videos to review or cover missed classes.
Textbook videos. The screen capture illustrates the various versions of most videos.
Downloadable videos may be downloaded to your computer, tablet, or phone and viewed with your preferred video player. Two sizes are available.
Large: 1280 × 720.
Small: 640 × 360.
Two streaming versions of the videos are available, and each plays within a web browser.
The first (red box) version is scalable (it automatically resizes to fit the display), and has a table of contents making it easy to jump to specific locations in the video.
The second version has a fixed size but is closed captioned. The captions may be switched off with a button in the bottom control bar.
PDF files are copies of the slides used during classroom presentations. The video dialog is included as presenter notes. Please note that there are no PDF files for the programming demonstrations.
Accessibility
Images
All textbook images have descriptive alt tags.
Formulas
All mathematical formulas appearing in the textbook are written using MathJax. You can right-click the formula to see a pop-up menu allowing you to magnify the formula and make other adjustments. MathJax also supports various assistive technologies (AT), but I cannot test any of these. Please see the following links for help and more information:
Videos are closed captioned. Two versions of each video, indicated by the red boxes and "CC" in their name, are closed captioned. You may download one version and stream the other. Captioning is complete through chapter 8 (Strings & C-Strings) but is an ongoing task. I will eventually caption all course videos.
Continuous Review
No one remembers everything presented in a learning experience, so you must be willing to review whenever necessary. Although it is true of many disciplines, it is especially so of computer programming that new concepts build on older ones. The textbook incorporates links throughout to facilitate your review when it is needed. Specifically, many sections have a "Review" list at the top, suggesting that the concepts introduced in the section build on the conceptual blocks in the list. There's no need to restudy the review topics if you already understand them, but you will learn the new concepts more quickly and more deeply if you understand foundational principles.
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Review features.
A typical review list at the beginning of a chapter section.
We can imagine how new concepts build on older ones as a pyramid of blocks, where each block is a concept. Just as each row of blocks forms the foundation for the rows above, you learn to program by "stacking" complex concepts on top of simple ones. If a row is missing or has a weak block, all the blocks above it will be unstable, and the pyramid will eventually collapse. Similarly, if you fail to learn or forget a concept, all the concepts that build on it become problematic, and the learning process becomes more difficult and takes much longer.
If you don't understand a concept, don't just skip it, review the prerequisite concepts and get help.
If you get behind, you can't "catch up" by skipping chapters or concepts. Staying current is easier than catching up.
No one gets lost all at once; getting lost is a slow, step by step process.
Study Guides
Each chapter begins with a Study Guide section that provides a high-level overview of the chapter. Reading the guides before studying the chapter will furnish a background to help you understand the chapter contents. They also signal concepts that warrant your increased attention.
The study guides include a list of concepts you should know when you finish the chapter. Some instructors will find the lists too long, while others will fault them for omitting necessary topics. Nevertheless, the lists will help you assess your understanding and are a good starting point for your exam preparation.
Additionally, a section at the end of the text - linked near the bottom of the index at the left - titled "Self-Testing" also contains a "Study Guide" for each chapter. These study guides are presented as self-administered and self-scored tests. They allow you to judge your understanding of the primary chapter concepts. If you struggle with the questions, you should reevaluate your study techniques. Although the guides are designed as post-tests for each chapter, some students find it helpful to print and briefly scan the guides, and then answer the questions while reading the related chapter.
