by David Trussell The most important thing to know about UIL Computer Science for 2002-03 is not what’s changed, but what hasn’t. The programming language for this year’s contests will continue to be C++ as it has been since 1998-99. The contest will be moving to Java, but not until next year (the 2003-04 school year).
However, it is crucial to begin planning for the Java transition now to ensure that we have as few bumps in the road as possible. Those who remember, as I do, the change from Pascal to C++ will attest to the importance of a wellplanned transition. I took over management of the contest in August 1998, and it didn’t take long to figure out there were a number of problems that had not been addressed to prepare for the change to C++. UIL Computer Science had been a Pascal contest since day one, so I don’t think anyone realized just how difficult the switch to C++ was going to be. The first year with C++ was a rough one for everyone involved -- priority one for the switch to Java will be to provide a much smoother transition.
Toward that end, the Computer Science Advisory Committee took up the Java challenge during its fourth annual meeting Aug. 1718 in Austin. As in previous years, the committee included several experienced coaches from around the state, as well as the state contest directors. The agenda was full, with topics ranging from reference books and software to test content and procedures. After a productive two days, we are well on the way to a successful transition.
The results of that meeting will be published in more detail on the UIL web site, but here’s a quick synopsis. UIL Computer Science has always followed the AP curriculum to a certain extent and will continue to do so with Java. Using AP’s Java course descriptions as a guide, the committee was able to assemble a solid and complete topic list for Java written tests. Next summer’s committee will have an opportunity to revisit and adjust the topics, but as a preliminary list it provides an excellent and detailed starting point.
The committee also took up the issue of reference books, which is greatly complicated by the fact that there are no stateadopted Java textbooks as yet, and probably won’t be for another couple of years. However, the committee was able to review and consider several different books and ultimately settle on three official references. The traditional textbook on the list is Fundamentals of Java (Comprehensive Edition) by Lambert and Osborne. (Not to be confused with the Introductory Edition of the same title.) The other two books on the list are more along the lines of comprehensive references. This include Big Java by Cay Horstman, and The Java Programming Language published by Sun Microsystems, with the latter serving as a complete and official syntax reference. Complete information on these books will be posted on the UIL web site.
On the software front, the change to Java affords Next year’s computer science changes starts with planning stages this year and eliminate the compiler compatibility issues that have been such a problem with C++. Sun Microsystems is the creator of Java and defines the official standards for the language. Consequently, Sun’s free Java 2 SDK (software development kit) is an easy choice as the official compiler for the contest. Schools will be able to use whatever IDE (integrated development environment) package they choose, as long as it incorporates the official Sun SDK. See the UIL web site for further details.
In addition to visiting the web site, the best way to obtain more detailed information about the change to Java is to attend one of the four Student Activities Conferences this fall, in Tyler, Lubbock, Austin or Edinburg. We hope to see you there.