All Prior Classes

Thread 2, Day 16 - Thursday, February 9, 2023

Agenda

1. End-of-module Task: Make an Interactive App
   • This is a working period to, ideally, complete the end-of-module task.

To-do items

Before this Saturday February 11 at 11 PM...

• As needed, keeping working to complete your end-of-module task.
• Make any final improvements to your portfolio on Spaces to provide further evidence for mastery of course learning goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 10.

Thread 2, Day 15 - Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Agenda

1. End-of-module Task: Make an Interactive App
   • Go to Spaces, right now, and:
     • ... post photos of your paper-based plans. 📝
     • ... read and (ideally acknowledge) replies.
       • Please take responses asking for more details for what they are: some encouragement and an opportunity to better demonstrate your understanding.
       • By the end of the year, 25% of your grade comes from the Communication evaluation category, which includes using subject-specific vocabulary to share your understanding of the code you are writing.
   • For the remaining time in this period, continue working on the end-of-module task.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Continue working on your end-of-module task.

Thread 2, Day 14 - Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Agenda

1. End-of-module Task: Make an Interactive App
   • We will start class by discussing ideas that would work for this task.
   • For the remaining time in this period, continue working on the end-of-module task.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Continue working on your end-of-module task.

Thread 2, Day 13 - Friday, February 3, 2023

Agenda

1. Finding Square Roots
   • You can review the history of commits for this project to understand the simplest possible flow for handling user input that is expected to be numeric.
     
   • We must take a String, convert it to an optional Double, then unwrap the optional to a regular Double so we can do arithmetic with the value, and finally, produce String output again:

     flowchart LR
     
     id1["Step 1\nString"] --> id2["Step 2\nDouble?"]
     id2 --> id3["Step 3\nDouble"]
     id3 --> id4["Step 4\nString"]

2. Share the Bill: Opportunities for Further Abstraction
   • A complete example that ties together all concepts we have learned so far in this module
     • Optionally, you can review how it was built, step by step
     • In the list of commits, click the commit details badge to see what changed within that specific commit:
       
   • Please fork and clone the repository for this app now
     • With a partner, review the code within the body property
       • What opportunities for eliminating repetitive code do you see?
       • Let's improve this now...
       Note

       Here is the video from this discussion in class – how to apply abstraction.

3. Share the Bill: Add a Second Tab to Show History
   • Data to be saved within an app should be created in one location only
     • Put another way, a given piece of data must have just one single source of truth
     • Currently this occurs with the @State property wrapper
     • How, though, can we share data between screens?
     • That is where the @Binding property wrapper is useful
       • In brief:

         flowchart TD
         
         id1["App Entry Point\n@State"] --> id2["Screen 1\n@Binding"]
         id1 --> id3["Screen 2\n@Binding"]

       • Let's examine this together now...
       Note

       Here is the video from this discussion in class – how to share data between screens using @Binding

4. End-of-module Task: Make an Interactive App

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Begin working on your end-of-module task.

Thread 2, Day 12 - Thursday, February 2, 2023

Agenda

1. Optionals and Data Input

   • Learn how to use optionals to safely handle user input.
   • Please fork and clone this project
     • Using your black notebook, try each page of the playground
     • Take your time – read for understanding – write down your responses to the questions posed in your black book
     • When you are done – summarize in writing what you have learned in your Spaces post for today – as well as any questions you have
       • Be sure to include several screenshots showing your progress as you completed the playground

2. Exercise: Convert an Existing Program to Text-based Input

   • Take at least one of your existing programs that calculate area, perimeter, surface area, or volume, and make changes so that rather than sliders, the user can provide input using text fields.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the items described above.

Thread 2, Day 11 - Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Agenda

1. Mid-module Portfolio Reviews

   • An informal check-in on your progress with:
     • Building user interfaces
     • Applying abstraction to eliminate repetitive code
     • Understanding how to use lists / arrays
     • Writing apps that accept input, process it, and produce output

2. Refactoring Code for Better Readability

   • How to use search and replace
     • locally within a file
     • globally within a project
   • Edit all in scope
   • Please watch the video included above and try out some of the features shown within in one of your own projects
   Note

   This topic is shared today by video to allow Mr. Gordon more time to meet with students today for portfolio reviews. The video was recorded in class with the other section of Grade 11 Intro to Computer Science last Saturday.

3. Optionals

   • You already understand how to use typical data types such as Int, Double, String, and Bool
   • You have built applications that accept user input as a Double via the Slider structure in SwiftUI
     • Sliders prevent the user from providing invalid input
       • This is very helpful
       • However, it can be hard to select a precise value
     • Sometimes, it would be preferable to accept typed input from the user
       • But what happens when invalid input is received from a user?
       • For example, we might expect numeric input, but the user could type fifty rather than 50
     • This is when the notion of an optional data type becomes useful
   • Please fork and clone this project
     • Using your black notebook, try each page of the playground
     • Take your time – read for understanding – write down your responses to the questions posed in your black book
     • When you are done – summarize in writing what you have learned in your Spaces post for today – as well as any questions you have
       • Be sure to include several screenshots showing your progress as you completed the playground

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete all of the items described above.

Thread 2, Day 10 - Friday, January 27, 2023

Agenda

1. Animations
   • Learn how to add animations to your apps.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Work on the tasks described above.
• Make a post on Spaces that summarizes what you have learned and shows that you have completed the lesson and exercise. Please use multiple screenshots in your post.
• Clean up your portfolio on Spaces to get ready for the mid-module review in our next class.

Thread 2, Day 9 - Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Agenda

1. Recap: The structure of a structure and an app...
   • What goes where in an app?
   • What goes where in a structure?
   • VIDEO: A 15-minute video of this discussion that will be useful if you were away on this day
2. Dynamic Lists
   • Time to continue working on this tutorial.
   • Then, be sure you can apply the same concept to your existing Area/Perimeter or Surface Area/Volume calculators
3. Lists App
   • For those who are ready, a small-group discussion on how to build out another app that uses lists

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Work on the tasks described above.
• Make a post on Spaces that summarizes what you have learned and shows that you have completed the lesson and exercise. Please use multiple screenshots in your post.

Thread 2, Day 8 - Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Agenda

1. Dynamic Lists
   • Build an app that makes use a list that changes while the app runs.
2. Exercise
   • Use what you have learned today to extend your app that calculates the area and perimeter of a 2D shape (or the surface area and volume of a 3D figure) so that it allows the user to save a history of results.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the tasks shown above.
• Make a post on Spaces that summarizes what you have learned and shows that you have completed the lesson and exercise. Please use multiple screenshots in your post.

Thread 2, Day 7 - Saturday, January 21, 2023

Agenda

1. Lists
   • How to store and use multiple pieces of data in an app by referring to just a single name.

To-do items

Before our class tomorrow morning...

• Complete the exercises from the lists lesson above.
• Make a post on Spaces that summarizes what you have learned and shows that you have completed all three exercises by way of including multiple screenshots.

Thread 2, Day 6 - Friday, January 20, 2023

Agenda

1. Xcodes (yes, plural)
   • An app for managing installation of Xcode (singular)
   • Later today, please use Xcodes to upgrade to Xcode 14.2.
2. Formatting Numeric Values: Gosh Darn Format Style
   • Many, many examples about how to present numbers and dates in Swift.
   • NOTE: If you were absent, please review this video for an explanation of what we did in class during this part.
3. Task: Geometric Figures, Extended
   • Revisit the Geometric Figures task
   • For your assigned shape, add to Area and Perimeter app that you started in our prior class, so that it:
     • allows for navigation between the existing screen for a rectangle and the new screen that you will write for your previously assigned shape
     • accepts slider-based input for the dimensions of your shape or figure
     • shows output for the perimeter and area or surface area and volume
     • additionally, work on polishing the user interface so that it is more functional and appealing

To-do items

Before our class tomorrow morning...

• As needed, catch up on tasks from earlier this week.
• Then complete today's tasks and then share updates on Spaces.

Thread 2, Day 5 - Thursday, January 19, 2023

Agenda

1. Lesson: Interactive Applications Using Sliders
   • Input-Process-Output
     • Writing applications that accept input, process it, and display output.
     • We will write an app that calculates the area of a square or rectangle.
     • Here are the instructions from class, in order... each video is quite short:
       • 1 - Creating the Project
       • 2 - Organizing the Project with a New View
       • 3 - Create a Static Layout.
       • 4 - Add Properties to Begin Making an Interactive Layout
       • 5 - Add Sliders To Allow for User Input
       • 6 - Using the Group Structure to Work Around the Ten View Limit
     • Now, please take the app you have written, and extend it to calculate perimeter as well.
2. Exercise: Temperature Converter
   • Write an application (from scratch, in a new project) that converts a temperature in Celsius to its equivalent in Fahrenheit.
     • Optionally:
       • Also write a page that calculates the reverse: from Fahrenheit to Celsius.
       • Add navigation to the app so that the user can move between these screens.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Extend your Area and Perimeter app to calculate and display the perimeter of a given rectangle.
• As described above, write a Temperature Converter app.
• Share updates on Spaces.

Thread 2, Day 4 - Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Agenda

1. Lists and Abstraction: Finishing the Trading Cards Task
   • To begin with the examples today, please fork and clone this repository.
     • VIDEO: How to fork the repository
     • VIDEO: How to clone the repository
   • How to build your structure.
     • VIDEO: How to build the structure
   • How to create instances of your structure.
     • VIDEO: How to create instances of the structure
   • How to accept instances of the structure in the detail view (abstraction)
     • VIDEO: How to accept instances of the structure in the detail view
   • How to build your navigation list
     • VIDEO: How to add navigation and a list

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Be sure you complete the steps shown in the videos above with your own copy of the TradingCardsExample project
• Apply the concepts shown here to complete your own Trading Cards task
• Share updates on Spaces

Thread 2, Day 3 - Friday, January 13, 2023

Agenda

1. Task: Trading Cards
   • Today's class is the second and final working period to complete this task.
   • Task is due this Sunday at 11 PM.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Make progress on the assigned task and share updates on Spaces.

Thread 2, Day 2 - Thursday, January 12, 2023

Agenda

1. Task: Trading Cards
   • Today's class is the first of two working periods to complete this task.
   • Task is due this Sunday at 11 PM.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Make progress on the assigned task and share updates on Spaces.

Thread 2, Day 1 - Tuesday, January 10, 2023

Agenda

1. Thread 1 Recap & Exercises
   • Describing data and user interfaces using structures... all the big ideas summarized along with several exercises to get your 🧠 moving again! 🚀

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Do your best to complete the recap and exercises – be sure to share one or more posts on Spaces regarding your progress.
  • Remember to commit and push your work regularly.
  • Use multiple screenshots within a post to show that you have completed each of the exercises.

Thread 1, Day 15 - Friday, November 18, 2022

Agenda

1. Thread 1 Portfolio Review
   • Prepare for your face-to-face meeting with Mr. Gordon.
2. Task: Reproduce an Interface
   • For the remaining time in this period, continue working on the end-of-module task.

To-do items

This evening, completely optional...

• Continue making improvements to your portfolio on Spaces.

Thread 1, Day 14 - Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Agenda

1. Rubber Duck Debugging
   • Programming can be hard, both for beginners and experienced software developers.
   • If you are running into syntax errors or logical errors and perhaps getting frustrated: that is normal!
   • Pairing with a friend to describe what you are trying to do with your code, line by line, can be helpful.
     • Often during this process, you will realize the source of the problem you are having.
   • When a friend is not nearby, use your duck! 🦆
2. Task: Reproduce an Interface
   • Show your understanding of recent lessons by reproducing a user interface of your choice.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Make progress on the assigned task.

Thread 1, Day 13 - Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Agenda

1. SF Symbols App
   • Not all software developers have graphic design skills.
   • Platform owners like Apple want their users to have a consistent experience when using apps written by different people.
   • One of the ways Apple helps their developers provide that consistent look and feel is by offering a wide variety of built-in images that can be used in apps.
   • Please download and install the SF Symbols app now.
2. Views and Controls App
   • This Xcode project includes examples of how to use many common user interface elements that are present in iOS apps.
   • Please go to the repository on GitHub and then clone a copy to use for future reference.
   • Here is a brief example of how to use the project to review examples.
3. SwiftUI: Reproducing the Stopwatch App
   • In this tutorial, learn how to apply some concepts we've already learned, as well as a few new ones, to build the user interface for a professional app.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Finish the tutorial to reproduce the Stopwatch user interface

Thread 1, Day 12 - Tuesday, November 8, 2022

Agenda

1. SwiftUI: Composition of Views Using Custom Structures
   • Remember D.R.Y. ?
     • Don't repeat yourself.
   • We can write our own structures that conform to the View protocol.
     • These custom structures build upon the structures like VStack, HStack, ScrollView, et cetera that are provided by Apple through the SwiftUI framework.
     • By using custom structures, we avoid having to make repetitive changes to our code.
     • As well, the overall number of lines of code that it takes to write an app is much lower.
2. Exercise: Improving the List View in FavouriteThings
   • Currently, the list view looks like this:
     
   • NavigationLink labels can show any view, not just a Text view.
   • Using your new knowledge from yesterday's class about how to combine VStack and HStack structures, and from today's class about how to create a new custom structure, modify your project so that the list view looks like this instead:
     
   Hint

   To re-use existing images in your app and show a smaller square thumbnail, the view modifiers shown here will do the trick:
   

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the tasks from today's agenda
• Be sure to share your results, and questions, on Spaces when you are done

Thread 1, Day 11 - Monday, November 7, 2022

Agenda

1. Learning Skills Self-Assessment
   • Last week you completed in-person interviews with Mr. Gordon to discuss your achievement to date.
   • You set goals for improvement over the next two weeks to complete this module.
   • Learning skills drive achievement.
     • That is, if you have strong learning skills, the rest often takes care of itself.
   • Please self-evaluate your learning skills for this course to date.
     • When completed, take a photo of your self-assessment and please post it on Spaces in the private portfolio space.
2. Source Control: Quick reference
   • From last week's class, please glue this inside the front cover of your black hardcover notebook.
3. Reference Book: SwiftUI Views Quick Start
   • Many programmers refer to reference books as they learn
   • Mark Moeykens is a talented author of technical reference books, who runs Big Mountain Studio
   • He wrote an outstanding book named SwiftUI Views Quick Start, and generously provides it free of charge
     • To simplify matters, you can directly access a copy of SwiftUI Views Quick Start here
       • To access the file, you need to be logged in to your LCS Google account
       • You may wish to download that PDF file directly to your computer for use in the future
         • To download the PDF file, look for this icon in the top-right corner of your browser window:
           
     • Other books Mark authored are also excellent, but are not provided free of charge
       • These books cover more advanced topics that you may choose to use later this year or in the grade 12 computer science course
4. SwiftUI: Basic Concepts and Terms
   • From the SwiftUI Views Quick Start book, please read through the Basic Concepts section from pages 12 to 20 in the PDF file
     • This will only take you a few minutes
5. SwiftUI: Understanding Mark's HeaderView
   • When you see code it's important that how it works is not a mystery to you
     • Mark includes the same standard layout at the start of all his code examples and screenshots
     • This layout is created from a SwiftUI view named HeaderView
     • To understand how HeaderView works, please review the My Template section from pages 31 to 39 of the Swift UI Views Quick Start
     • This is a good initial example of how to do basic formatting in SwiftUI
     • It is often easier to learn by trying things out as you go.
       • So, you are asked to:
         • create a new project in Xcode, of type iOS App, named HeaderExample
         • then, as you read pages 31 to 39, try typing in the code Mark provides within the body property in his examples
6. Exercise: Experiment with SwiftUI Layouts

   • Option 1: Extend Name Badge

     • Go back to the Name Badge project we started in a prior class.
     • Make the view's visual appearance look like this:
       
     • If you wish, use the complete SwiftUI Views Quick Start book as a reference, or, refer to this PDF that contains a subset of concepts that you will probably find most useful right now
     • You will find this visual reference to fonts available within an iOS app to be useful
       • For example, to get my name to appear with the font shown above, I used this code:
         
       • Here is another good reference for different font weights and variations that are available.

   • Option 2: Freestyle

     • Create a new SwiftUI view and experiment with formatting by referring to SwiftUI Views Quick Start.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the tasks from today's agenda
• Be sure to share your results, and questions, on Spaces when you are done

Thread 1, Day 10 - Friday, November 4, 2022

Agenda

1. Initial Portfolio Reviews
   • Mr. Gordon will meet privately with each student in the hall to review portfolios.
   • While that occurs, please complete the other three agenda items for this class.
     • You are encouraged to work in pairs as desired – but be sure that each person understands the concepts at hand.
     • Take notes in your black hardcover book, as needed.
2. Source Control
   • Pushing content to the "cloud"
3. Task: Geometric Figures
   • Write a structure that models a 2D shape or 3D figure
4. Find an app that you like and tell the class about it
   • Do you have an app that you use daily?
   • If not, what is something that you need to do often? Can you find an app for that?
   • In a post to the shared class space on Spaces, please:
     
     • Post multiple screenshots of that app
     • Explain why you use it so often, or, why you feel it is a well designed app
     Note

     For this task, please avoid the "big" apps like Snapchat, Instagram, et cetera .

To-do items

Before our next class, be sure you have...

• Completed the Geometric Figures task.
• Described an app that you like.
• Made your regular post on Spaces to share progress and ask questions.

Thread 1, Day 9 - Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Agenda

1. Full class recap

   • Starting a new project
   • Computed properties vs. stored properties
   • Requirements of the View protocol
   • How to describe more interesting layouts for a user interface
   Tip

   If you missed the recap in class, here is a video from when I reviewed these topics with my other section of Grade 11 Intro to Computer Science.

   Note

   Here is the Xcode Keyboard Shortcuts poster I mentioned in class.

2. Project Organization

   • Using groups in Xcode

3. Scrolling

   • What to do when content does not fit

4. Lists

   • How to show a list of items

5. Navigation

   • Moving between pages

6. App Entry Point

   • Changing what view shows

7. Exercise

   • Add three more favourite things to your app
   Tip

   Recall from class 7 – here is how to add a new SwiftUI view to your project

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Finish the exercise from class.
  • When complete, your app should be able to navigate to six different pages.
  • Each page should describe something you value.
  • Each page should have:
    • a title
    • one image
    • one or more paragraphs of text
  • Here is an animation showing what you are aiming for.

Thread 1, Day 8 - Monday, October 31, 2022

Agenda

1. Source Control – Introduction
   • Saving revisions of your code helps you to:
     • show your progress over time
     • back up valuable work
     • revert to earlier versions of your code, if desired
2. Source Control - Branching
   • How to go back to an earlier version of a project
3. Using a Development Team in Xcode
   • Connecting Your New Apple ID
4. Adding a Physical Device as a Run Destination
   • To run applications you write in Xcode on your iPhone or iPad, a few one-time-only setup steps are required.
5. Defining a User Interface Using Structures
   • In this tutorial, you will learn how nested structures can be used to express a user interface in SwiftUI.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Improve the pages in your FavouriteThings app so that each page has:

  • A title above the image
  • One or more paragraphs below the image.
  • Remember, commit your work after each page that you add!

  Like what you see here:

  

Thread 1, Day 7 - Friday, October 28, 2022

Agenda

1. Portfolio: Providing evidence for learning goals
2. Discussion: Grouping Related Info with Structures
   • Key takeaways:
     • Use CapitalCase when naming structures.
     • Use camelCase when naming properties and instances of structures.
     • DRY
       • Don't repeat yourself.
       • If you are designing structures to describe data, and find that you have repetitive sections of code, there is usually going to be a better way to organize things.
3. Structures: Going beyond stored properties
4. SwiftUI: A brief introduction
5. Exercise: Add pages for two more favourite things

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the exercise we started in class to add views for two more of your favourite things.
• Make your daily post on Spaces summarizing what you've learned and what you have questions about.

Thread 1, Day 6 - Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Agenda

1. Name Plate
   • Make a final set of enhancements to your Name Plate sketch – or – keep your existing sketch and start a new one, in another Playground file, with a different visual look and feel.
   • To build and show your increasing mastery of concepts we've recently looked at, aim to use some or all of these techniques:
     • iteration
     • functions
     • random numbers
     • a rough plan
   • Remember that you can use colour combination websites and the eyedropper tool to obtain nice colours for your sketches.
     • When choosing a color, the alpha or opacity value refers to how transparent the colour will be.
     Tip

     Try overlapping two filled figures that use a slightly transparent colour. What happens?

   • Here are some ideas that might be fun to use as inspiration, if you are searching for an idea!
     • To implement these patterns, think of how you might use fills and overlapping shapes.
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
   Important

   When you are finished working for the day, be sure to share your progress in the Portfolio space on Spaces.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Make further progress on the task above, if you choose.
• Please be certain you have upgraded your operating system and installed Xcode, as described in the notes from Day 4.
• Once again, as always, please share your progress on Spaces.

Thread 1, Day 5 - Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Agenda

1. Data Types and Structures

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Finish the exercise described at the end of today's slide deck.

Thread 1, Day 4 - Monday, October 24, 2022

Agenda

1. Apple Developer Account
   • This account will allow you to use TestFlight with the apps you create in class this year.
     • It will also allow you to directly download developer resources, which has some advantages compared to using the Mac App Store.
   • First, please create an Apple ID using your LCS email address.
   Tip

   When creating your Apple ID, use the school's street address, but your own phone number. The complete address for LCS is:
   4391 County Road 29
Lakefield College School
Lakefield ON K0L2H0
Canada

   • Then, accept the invitation to join the LCS Apple Developer team that you will find in your LCS email inbox.
2. Update Operating System
   • To use the required version of Xcode, your computer must be upgraded to at least macOS Monterey version 12.5.
   • Choose Apple menu  > About This Mac to check what version you currently have.
   • Here is how to upgrade, as needed.
   • If you have to do a significant upgrade (e.g.: from macOS 11.x to macOS 12.5+) please wait until this evening, after you have completed your Study tasks, to complete it.
     • Alternatively, if a major upgrade is necessary, you could ask the I.S. support team to upgrade your computer over lunch.
3. Download Xcode
   • You can download the current version, 14.0.1, here.
   • This will require logging in with your Apple Developer ID that we just set up.
   • When the download finishes, you will have a .xip file in your Downloads folder.
     • Double-click the .xip file to decompress it.
     Tip

     It's a very large file – decompressing the .xip will take some time.

   • Once the .xip file is decompressed, you will see an Xcode application icon.
     - Drag Xcode to your Applications folder.
     - You can then move the .xip file to your computer's Trash bin.
4. Course Outline
   • We deferred looking at this last week due to my absences from class for coaching.
   • Let's review now using a think-pair-share protocol.
5. Making Plans
   • A look at how a little bit of thought can make completing a radial fill pattern like this pretty straightforward:
     
   • To begin, we will work in pairs, with groups assigned in a visibly random way.
   • We can find some nice color combinations here.
6. Make further enhancements to your Name Plate sketch.
   • Use some of the concepts we have just explored - be bold!
   • Here is what I came up with after some experimentation:
     

To-do items

Before our next class...

• As described in item #2 above, if necessary, upgrade your computer's operating system.
• As described in item #3 above, please download and install Xcode.
• Complete your enhancements to Name Plate task.
• Please share your progress on Spaces.

Thread 1, Day 3 - Friday, October 21, 2022

Agenda

1. Join our class on Spaces.
   • This space is for shared posts you want everyone to see:
     
   • This space is for private portfolio posts that will only be seen by Mr. Gordon:
     
2. On Spaces, in the private Portfolio space, share your progress to date on the Name Plate task.
   • Please attach a screenshot of the visual output and screenshot(s) of the code.
     • You can use Command-Shift-3 to capture a screenshot; the file will be saved to your Desktop folder.
   • Then, respond to the two standard reflection prompts:
     i. What did I learn or make progress upon today?
     ii. What do I have questions about / what am I struggling with
3. Introduction to Functions
   • A function is a way to encapsulate (bundle up) a series of steps that we may want to use again.
     • It can be useful to "return home" between drawing different parts of a sketch with the turtle.
       • This tutorial explains how to use a function to do that.
4. Introduction to Iteration
   • A loop is a way to repeat a set of instructions many times.
   • The computer will iterate over a set of instructions.
   • With each iteration of the loop, instructions will be run again.
5. Random Numbers
   • Random numbers can be used to change the appearance or location of part of a sketch.
6. Make enhancements to your Name Plate sketch.

   • Use some of the concepts we have just explored - be bold!

   • Here is what I came up with after some experimentation:
     

   • You can find some nice color combinations here.

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete your enhancements to Name Plate task.
• Please share your progress on Spaces.

Thread 1, Day 2 - Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Agenda

1. Programming with Purpose
   • Yesterday, we looked about how Jordi Bruin solved a small problem – visually translating a menu – with the Cibo app.
   • Sometimes, we can help others with major efforts, like writing an app, but...
     • ... how do we get to that place?
     • ... is that the only way to help others?
   • Please have your black hardcover notebook out while you watch Programming with Purpose with the class.
     • As you watch, write down any quotes that speak to you.
     • When you are finished watching, summarize a bit – what is one takeaway that you have from this video?
2. Continue working on the Name Plate task.
   • Here is a short code excerpt that illustrates a few techniques you may find useful.
     • To try this code out, you could duplicate your existing playground, then copy and paste in this code.
   • Remember, you can step through your code to see what line of code produces what visual result.
   • Sometimes we encounter a logical error, which is when the computer does not do what we intended.
     • We can "debug" the problem by checking the position of the turtle using the drawSelf() command.
   • You can get nicer colours by using the colour well.
   • Aim to complete the Name Plate task today. 💪🏼
     • If you are already finished drawing your name, could you enhance it?
       • Change to bubble letters?
       • Add colour?
       • Add a drawing of one of your favourite things or something that speaks to your personality?

To-do items

Before our next class...

• Complete the Name Plate task.

Thread 1, Day 1 - Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Agenda

1. Computer Studies at LCS
   • Ultimately, Computer Studies is about talking to people to understand problems that you can help them solve using technology.
   • We will review the course outline together later this week (though if you wish, you can review it today).
2. Hardcover graph paper notebooks
   • Gentle reminder: please bring your graph paper notebook to every future class for this course.
3. Install the Playgrounds app.
4. Download the Sketches Template.
   • Here is a short animation showing how to add the Sketches Template to the Playgrounds app.
5. Start the Name Plate task.

To-do items

• Optionally, make further progress on completing the Name Plate task.
  • You will have some time in class tomorrow to work on this task.