ACM JTF
ACM Java Task Force

Version 2.0

(September 20, 2008)

This page provides several entry points into the documentation and materials prepared by the ACM Java Task Force, which was convened in 2004 with the following charter:

To review the Java language, APIs, and tools from the perspective of introductory computing education and to develop a stable collection of pedagogical resources that will make it easier to teach Java to first-year computing students without having those students overwhelmed by its complexity.

Getting Started

There are several ways to get started with the JTF packages. For most new users, the best place to start is with the JTF Tutorial, which is designed to teach potential adopters how to use the packages. If you want to see what is possible with the JTF resources, you can check out the JTF Demo Gallery. For a one-page synopsis of the project and its accomplishments, please see the executive summary.

The remainder of this page consists of links to the materials.

Click here for a list of what’s new in this release.

Demos

   The JTF Demo Gallery

JTF Tutorial


1. Introduction to the JTF Packages
2. Using the acm.package Package
3. Animation and Interactivity
4. Graphical User Interfaces

Rationale Document


1. Introduction
2. Principles
3. Problem Taxonomy
4. The acm.io Package
5. The acm.graphics Package
6. The acm.program Package
7. The acm.gui Package
8. The acm.util Package
9. The JTF Java Subset
References

Documentation

   Student-view javadoc documentation

Downloads

Tutorial.pdf    Printable version of the JTF Tutorial (85 pages/348K)
Rationale.pdf    Printable version of the JTF Rationale (116 pages/468K)
 
ExecutiveSummary.pdf    A one-page executive summary of the JTF project
acm.jar JAR archive containing the acm packages
acm.zip Downloadable source archive for Windows and Mac OS X
License.pdf The JTF license agreement

Software License

The ACM Java Task Force seeks to impose few restrictions on the use of its library packages so that users have as much freedom as possible to use this software in constructive ways and can make the benefits of that work available to others. In view of the legal complexities of software development, however, it is essential for the ACM to maintain copyright over the JTF software as insurance against the following eventualities:

Each of these situations represents a clear violation of the principles of free software, and the ACM has therefore developed a legal agreement to guard against such problems. The full text of the license agreement is available here.

Members of the Java Task Force

 Eric Roberts (chair)    Stanford University
 Kim BrucePomona College
 Robb CutlerThe Harker School
 James CrossAuburn University
 Scott GrissomGrand Valley State University
 Karl KleeAlfred State College
 Susan RodgerDuke University
 Fran TreesDrew University
 Ian UttingUniversity of Kent
 Frank YellinGoogle, Inc.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the ACM Education Board, the SIGCSE Special Projects Fund, and the National Science Foundation (grant DUE-0411905).

Feedback

Please send comments to the Java Task Force at the following address:

java-task-force@cs.stanford.edu

Last modified on Fri Aug 15 10:53:31 2008 by eroberts