Software Development Notes

[paulsterio]

My own comprehensive notes and Study Guides for Software Development

Must See!

https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B7ND5VvJI_UOMzUwMjBjYzEtMTRmMy00NTAzLWFmODAtMzQ5YTg1Y2UwZTFk&hl=en_US

(Mods Please Sticky)

Oh, and please vote +1 if you like them

[Lasercookie]

I've just looked through these, they seem pretty well written.
These are for the old course though? So some of this stuff would be irrelevant.

I'm doing ITA this year and most likely SD next year, so they should come in handy. There seems to be a bit of overlap with the content (especially with the information systems and copyright stuff) so I might give them a better read through later.

[paulsterio]

I've just looked through these, they seem pretty well written.
These are for the old course though? So some of this stuff would be irrelevant.

I'm doing ITA this year and most likely SD next year, so they should come in handy. There seems to be a bit of overlap with the content (especially with the information systems and copyright stuff) so I might give them a better read through later.

Yeah, I did SD last year, so it is a different course, but like with most study design changes its usually like 70% the same anyways, and what they usually do is mix it around, so the order's different and that

But thanks for the compliments though, I might type up some notes on Use Case Diagrams (which is on the new course) soon!

[Lasercookie]

But thanks for the compliments though, I might type up some notes on Use Case Diagrams (which is on the new course) soon!

Use Case diagrams are UML right?

Also noticed the document on Visual Basic - I heard VB6 is getting removed from the list next year (VCAA wanted to remove it this year, but teachers objected because they wanted an adjustment period). If you're going to be writing up more stuff you probably should be aware of that.

[paulsterio]

But thanks for the compliments though, I might type up some notes on Use Case Diagrams (which is on the new course) soon!

Use Case diagrams are UML right?

Also noticed the document on Visual Basic - I heard VB6 is getting removed from the list next year (VCAA wanted to remove it this year, but teachers objected because they wanted an adjustment period). If you're going to be writing up more stuff you probably should be aware of that.

yepp, use case diagrams are uml, well to be more correct uml = universal modelling language which is the language used to write use case diagrams (:

yeah, ive heard about that as well, my school is switching to PHP next year (I was quite disappointed that they didn't switch to VB.NET) but everything is internet oriented these days
but nahh, i probably wont have time to do much with regards to languages anyway, i just have VB6 stuff cause I used VB6 last year - i use VB.NET for my "leisure" programming these days (quite similar)

either way you dont need to know a language for the exam, so i guess its not important in that sense

[Lasercookie]

but nahh, i probably wont have time to do much with regards to languages anyway, i just have VB6 stuff cause I used VB6 last year - i use VB.NET for my "leisure" programming these days (quite similar)

either way you dont need to know a language for the exam, so i guess its not important in that sense

Switch to Python for your 'leisure' programming. If you want to do more serious stuff - go for C++, it's not too hard to learn (or just use Python for that stuff as well). 

I loathe Visual Basic. I told my teacher I'm not doing the subject if he decides on Visual Basic (I don't see the point in putting up with VB for a year when you could be using a better language). He said Perl was his favourite language, so I think we'd be using that. C++/Java would be too unwieldy for a year 12 IT sac.

[paulsterio]

Switch to Python for your 'leisure' programming. If you want to do more serious stuff - go for C++, it's not too hard to learn (or just use Python for that stuff as well). 

I loathe Visual Basic. I told my teacher I'm not doing the subject if he decides on Visual Basic (I don't see the point in putting up with VB for a year when you could be using a better language). He said Perl was his favourite language, so I think we'd be using that. C++/Java would be too unwieldy for a year 12 IT sac.

hmm yeah, i will, ill probably switch over to C++ or C#
java might be something i'll learn in the future

oh right, what's wrong with VB though, like in my opinion VB.NET would be a decent choice for a Year 12 SD course, its easy to learn and gets the job done.
it seems to me that a lot of schools are going with the scripting languages like PHP, Perl, and Python these days

but i agree with you C++ or Java would take too much effort to learn, considering that a lot of Year 12 SD students dont even have much of a programming background, and yeah for a SAC it would probably be too unwieldy

[huss48]

well done Paulsterio, good to see u post some stuff on here.

[ExamStorm]

Thanks Paulsterio. Nice contribution

[Lasercookie]

oh right, what's wrong with VB though, like in my opinion VB.NET would be a decent choice for a Year 12 SD course, its easy to learn and gets the job done.

Sorry I didn't notice that you asked this question.

Yeah, sure it gets the job done, I don't deny that. I also don't deny that it has it's uses. But if you're going to learn a language, why not learn a language that can be applied to a wider range of stuff once you're done with Year 12?

Most of the other languages on the list are free. VB.Net is not (well schools aren't supposed to use the express edition).
Most of the other languages are multi-platform. VB.Net is not (that open source implementation of .Net is a complete joke - that's unofficially developed anyway, you don't find quality support for that). 

C++, Java, C# etc. are obviously in heavy use. But we're ignoring those for now, since we've already agreed they're too unwieldy for SD.

That leaves Perl, Python, Ruby.
They are all used quite heavily outside the classroom. Python and Ruby are definitely used for a ridiculously large spectrum of applications. Python is something you'll notice on a lot of job advertisements (programming, maths, physics, engineering, general IT etc.) as a skill that's wanted (though I guess FORTRAN is also a common skill that's wanted for physics and engineering...).

With VB.Net, you're locked into using Windows. P/P/R run on all three platforms, and are supported quite well on all three. With how popular Macs are these days, you can probably see the advantage of having a single code base that can run on another platform with minimal tweaking required. I've programmed some stuff for Windows in Ruby and then been able to easily get that program running on a Mac.

I've used Python and Ruby a fair bit (Perl not so much, but I can tweak programs if I need to) and I have used VB.Net for a couple of projects and I found that the python and ruby code I could do a lot more with.

P/P/R all support this huge kind of module/library system. These modules cover just about everything you need. They all have fantastic modules for the web. They also all have fantastic GUI modules. Python I know has these modules that rival MATLAB. I find you just don't get that extra flexibility with VB (at least with not as much ease).

I won't discuss syntax. Syntax is irrelevant - it's easy to learn for pretty much any language (except for those weird obfuscated languages).

But yeah, that's my opinion. Obviously this is a pretty opinionated issue, but I feel that a student will be much better equipped if they know either Perl, Python or Ruby.