Contributions to teaching object-oriented design and programming

Abstract

We provide a formal agenda for teaching the object-oriented paradigm in a programming language independent manner, and a tool which supports our teaching approach. Our proposal for a comprehensive study of the subject includes an ordered set of objectives designed to guide the uninitiated user from zero knowledge about object-oriented programming through class definitions, inheritance, subtyping, and the parameterization of classes. This set of graded objectives provides both a useful metric for gauging a student's progress, and a facility through which users can begin their studies at a level commensurate with their experience.