Making Pictures with Java       CPS 004.1, 3 July 2003

Since video games, movie special effects, and graphical user interfaces have become extremely popular, it is clear that almost anything can be drawn using a computer today. However, for many years this was an incredibly challenging area of computer science. We will experiment graphics by with making collages out of pre-defined, e.g., cookie cutter or stencil, shapes. Unlike physical stencils, however, we will find that it is easy to vary the size and color of our shapes without having to own hundreds of different copies of the same kind of stencil. A listing of all the shapes can be found here.

This assignment is meant to familiarize you with the following concepts discussed in class and your reading:

Specifications

You should start by trying to understand what it is like to try to explain your picture to a computer. Try this exercise with your partner on paper before starting to code.

Next, since this is probably your first time using Visual J++ or perhaps even writing any program, you should work through this tutorial with your partner. It describes how to make a simple program.

Finally, you are to write a Java applet that displays an interesting picture on a web page. You should use this time to ask questions and experiment with the different shapes available and their various attributes to create your picture. In the past, students have created pictures of ice cream cones, houses, stick people, trees, or abstract designs. Alternately, you could try to reproduce the picture for which you had to make instructions earlier. In any case, use this time to become comfortable using the environment and objects available to you while showing off your creativity :)

What to hand in

When you are finished, you and your partner should transfer your web pages to your respective public_html/cps4 folder in the acpub system and update your course web page to link to the newly transferred page using the guidelines given here.