Computer Camp Courses 

We offer courses for all levels of experience. For campers who are new to computers or to programming, we offer LOGO, HTML, Flash, Robotics, and Graphic Design.

LOGO Programming

LOGO is a simple programming language which was designed specifically for teaching programming. LOGO programs move a turtle around the screen to draw shapes. This programming language is appropriate for campers of all ages, from 7 to 16!

Campers will learn:

• Moving the turtle and drawing shapes on the screen
• Geometric concepts
• Logic concepts
• Line-by-line program execution
• Flow control and boolean algebra
• Subroutines

Required experience:

• None! This course is for beginners.

Alice

Alice is a language developed at Carnegie Mellon University.  It is a 21st century programming environment designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. It allows students to learn basic computer science while creating animated movies, simple video games, where students control the behavior of 3D objects and characters in a virtual world.

Campers will learn:

• Creating scenarios and storyboards for the Alice Virtual World
• Orientation and movement instructions
• Programming using functions and expressions
• Control Structures  
• Object Oriented and Event Driven Programming Concepts

Required experience:

• No previous programming experience is required

 HTML and CSS

HTML with CSS is widely accepted as the best way to make web pages, both for small personal pages and for large professional web sites. We encourage well-formed XHTML for maximum compatibility on all types of computers.

Campers will make a personal home page using different fonts, colors, pictures, sounds, and embedded Flash movies that they or other campers have created.

Campers will learn:

• Simple formatting with colors, bold, italic, etc.
• Structuring page elements including paragraph blocks and tables
• Linking between pages
• Placing images and Flash animations
• Proper design concepts

Required experience:

• Word processing

Graphic Design

Campers learn basic design principles primarily using Adobe Photoshop, although other graphics applications are introduced as well.

Campers will learn:

• Graphic design principles and terminology
• Image correction and adjustment
• Size and format requirements for various media (Web, print, computer display)
• Digital image capture methods

Required experience:

• None! This course is for beginners.

Flash

Flash is one of the best tools for creating animations and interactive multimedia presentations. Campers taking our Flash course will learn how to make complex media using vector graphics including dynamic content, sound, video, and animation.

Campers will learn:

• Vector graphics and animation
• Games and interactive animation using ActionScript
• Multimedia with sound and video

Required experience:

• (Optional) For campers learning Flash ActionScript, we require either LOGO programming, Visual Basic, C++, or Java

Robotics

We offer different levels of robotics courses, including building and programming a Lego MindStorms robot, a BASIC Stamp robot, and a VEX robot. Depending on the camper's experience, he or she may create a robot by using a pre-made design or a design of their own.

In previous years, campers have developed

• A robot that avoids falling off a table
• A robot that follows a line drawn on the floor

Campers will learn:

• Sensors to receive light and sound input
• Touch and motion sensors
• Movement using motors
• Logic programming with LOGO, ranging from simple sensor reaction to complex behaviors
• Complex programming with C and BASIC programming languages

Required experience:

• (Optional) LOGO or other programming languages, for advanced robot logic

Visual Basic.NET

Visual Basic.NET is a powerful language that allows programmers to quickly design and implement a large variety of applications. These programs range from simple games to applications that can solve complex problems.

Campers will learn:

• Variables and computer memory
• Conditional code with if-else statements
• Looping with while, do-while, and for loops
• Functions and the stack
• Simple GUI forms

Required experience:

• Some previous programming experience is helpful, but not essential
• (Optional) Algebra or pre-algebra classes in school

PHP and MySQL

PHP is a very widely used web development language for creating data-driven web sites. We use MySQL, a free database manager, with PHP to store site data such as user names, passwords, and message board posts.

Campers will learn:

• Dynamic web pages with embedded PHP code
• Storing and using data with MySQL
• Database design

Required experience:

• Programming experience
• Either Visual Basic.NET, Java, or C++

Java Basics

Java is a widely used object-oriented programming language, which is replacing C++ as the preferred general-purpose programming language. Java is very flexible and can be used to develop games, dynamic web sites, desktop Windows and Mac applications.

Campers will learn:

• Variables, arrays, and computer memory
• Conditional code with if-else statements
• Looping with while, do-while, and for loops
• Simple console and file I/O
• Classes, properties and methods

Required experience:

• Either Visual Basic.NET, PHP, or C/C++

C++

C++ is a widely used object-oriented programming language, often used for 3D video games and Windows applications.

C++ is being replaced by Java in many areas of software development, and many campers find Java easier to learn than C++, so we recommend that most campers who want to learn C++ should learn Java first.

Campers will learn:

• Variables, arrays, and computer memory
• Conditional code with if-else statements
• Looping with while, do-while, and for loops
• Simple console and file I/O
• Functions

Required experience:

• Either Visual Basic.NET, PHP, or Java

Game Development in Java

Game Development is our most advanced programming course. In this course, a team of campers learn object-oriented programming while developing a video game using the Java programming language.

In previous years, campers have developed text-based role-playing games, text-based casino games, and Matching Madness, a graphical matching game based on PopCap Games' Bejeweled.

Campers will learn:

• Object-oriented programming, including inheritance/polymorphism, encapsulation, and exceptions
• Data structures like lists, sets, and maps
• Code constructs such as conditional statements, loops, and variables
• I/O, including filesystem access as well as from the application console
• Multi-threaded code, including threads and locking
• Graphics, possibly including 2D rendering, text, alpha compositing, and performance optimization
• GUI development with Swing
• Networking, including TCP, network data formats, and possibly UDP and multicast
• Collaborative development in a team, including version control using Subversion VCS

Required experience:

• Algebra or pre-algebra classes in middle school or high school
• Either Visual Basic, PHP, C/C++, Flash ActionScript, or Java