In my EECS 1021 class, in which we connect Java programs on a Mac or Windows machine with programs running on an Arduino-compatible board, we generally use Firmata. When combined with a library like Firmata4j (Java) or pyFirmata (Python), or Arduino-Octave (Matlab), Firmata provides an easy-to-use pathway for this to happen. It is, however, a […]
Arduino devices are commonplace in Engineering programs. Even if the profs don't use them, the students do. In Engineering programs, we often need to set up sensor monitoring or motor control systems. If students haven't worked with these in the first through third years of their programs, they are likely to encounter them in the […]
This is an example exercise in VPL. Grade is out of 1. All the students have to do is uncomment the creation of the MathVector object. Want to reproduce this example? PreLabC.java (the template for the student to work on) solution.txt (what the student's solution _could_ look like) MathVector.java (the class with all the methods […]
In our first year programming class for engineering students, EECS 1021, we're using modern features like jShell and var. Unfortunately, the OS that our VPL instance sits on came with an older version of Java, so we've had to modify our scripts to point to the Java 17 JDK. If you get an error like […]
Firmata is a set of Arduino projects that are aimed at helping solve a particular class of problems with embedded devices: having a main computer send and receive data from an Arduino, typically in a simple control or data-logging application. This is similar to how people use the Arduino support for Matlab. In Java we […]
[Updated March 2024] EECS 1011 (and 1021) Lab Kit The EECS 1011 kit is available for purchase from the York University Bookstore. The link for all lab kits at the Bookstore is here. As soon as it is available your course instructor will let you know. While the official kit is designed to work for […]
[draft / in progress] A number of students in EECS 1021 have encountered a few problems when trying to get a simple JavaFX program working in IntelliJ. The problem appears to happen mostly on the Windows 10 machines, but does also happen on macOS. Background The setup: IntelliJ IDEA 2020 Community Edition, AdoptOpen JDK 14 […]
[updated Jan. 2021] The JavaFX library is a good resource for making graphs. There are 8 basic graph types in JavaFX (Edencode link); Oracle tutorial link) Getting started in Java is more difficult than in Matlab. Want graphics? You'll need JavaFX. That means first undertaking three steps: Download and install an IDE (e.g. IntelliJ), Download […]
The following is a description of how I installed JavaFX SDK version 11 on Java SDK 14 with the IntelliJ IDE. Download the SDK and Link to IntelliJ The JavaFX toolkit (SDK) is an add-on for Java that makes it possible to create graphics. It used to be included with the main Java SDK, but […]
Virtual Programming Lab is a plugin for Moodle (eClass at YorkU) that permits interactive programming assignments to be made for students. There are some really good examples at Smith College on how to set it up with Python and a few with Java and C. I've posted, on YouTube, an example of how to […]