Setting the stage using program code?

Although I have eleven years of experience working in and teaching Java/OOP, (http://www.dickbaldwin.com/toc.htm) I have just started looking into Alice as a possible new approach for our CS0 course which is currently being taught using C++ -- boring and not very successful. So please bear with me if this is common knowledge.

I know how to create a world and manually add objects, position the objects, adjust the camera, set properties, etc., and to do a variety of other things manually. However, as a programmer, I would prefer to write code to do as much of that as possible and to eliminate as many of the manual operations as possible.

My question: Is it possible to manually create a new world using the File menu, and manually select and open a template, and then switch over entirely to program code from that point forward?

More specifically, is it possible to write code to add objects to a world, or must that always be done manually?

Thank you.
Dick Baldwin

Hi Dick,
I'm familiar with your Java tutorial articles (developer.com/Gamelan.com, etc).

Currently Alice is meant as a learning tool for new students/individuals wishing to learn to write programs - hence the strictly drag-and-drop IDE. Using this technique students can spend more time on design, etc. instead of tracking down typing/compiler syntax errors.

You may wish to check out aliceprogramming.net and view the various college syllabi to see how they are using it. I've used it for 9th and 10th grade prep courses leading to AP Computer Science in 10-12th grade and have had great results.

If you viewed the various threads here you know they are working on version 3. I'm not sure what changes other than the 'Sim' graphic-type models will be introduced.

Good luck with introducing Alice to your students.
Lance

Hi Lance,

I thought that was probably the case but I just thought that I would check anyway. It's not a problem for the intended course.

Thanks for the tip to aliceprogramming.net. I wasn't aware of that page, and I found a lot of good material there.

On a slightly different subject, it seems that when an Alice program solicits boolean input from the user and that program is saved as a web page, the applet that is produced throws a runtime error when run using Sun's appletviewer. How would I go about getting information regarding plans to fix that bug?

Thanks,
Dick Baldwin

You can submit bug reports to: http://www.alice.org/your2.htm

This bug is already listed as a known bug at: http://www.alice.org/bugs/index.html

It appears as:

"�Ask user� functions do not work"

However, I haven't found any status information on bug fixes, or even if the known bugs will be fixed in light of v3.0 coming down the pike.

I hope they do fix it because applets provide a good way to transport Alice programs from machines with the Alice environment installed to machines that don't have it installed.

Dick Baldwin