Java Foundations and Core Concepts

This unit establishes a working Java development environment and introduces core programming concepts and idioms in Java. Students learn basic syntax, control flow, object-oriented design, fundamental data structures and algorithms, and introductory concurrency and UI topics to prepare for intermediate game programming and design work.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and configure the Java development environment (JDK and editor/IDE), compile and run Java programs, and troubleshoot common setup issues
• Apply Java syntax and programming constructs—including variables, arithmetic and boolean operators, control flow statements (while, if/else-if), methods, and exception handling—to develop correct console applications
• Demonstrate object-oriented programming principles by declaring classes, packages, static and instance members, inheritance and abstract classes, inner classes, and by organizing code with packages
• Evaluate and implement fundamental data structures and algorithms (arrays, ArrayList, LinkedList, Maps, generics, factorial, bubble sort), and demonstrate introductory concepts in threads, functional programming, regular expressions, time representation, and basic JavaFX UI components