Misconception: students forget about language-specific or paradigm-specific material (e.g., new/delete or types) when they switch between languages that don’t use the same concepts.
Explain that arrays work like a dresser of clothing to help students understand this abstract data structure by relating it to structures they know.
Use Shapes, Rectangles, and Squares to teach objects and inheritance in Java, tell students they’re the only ones who can complete the job for extra engagement.
Misconception: Students have difficulty using the correct data types in Java because their go-to data type is int most of the time.
Give students a cheat-sheet for how to accomplish particular tasks in Java so that they can create interesting programming from the beginning of a course to keep them engaged.
DrJava, the Java interpreter, gives students an interactive environment to practice testing strategies in.
When tracing through code in Java, use different colors for code that is executed in a main method versus in a class method.
Lay out what good programming style consists of for your class to encourage good style and make debugging easier.
For AP CS courses, consider using the linked Java API that only contains the subset of classes and methods that the AP course uses.
Teach students that running tests cannot prove that a code works. It can, however, prove that code is not working.