Java tutor

Abstract

A common pattern among undergraduate computer science curriculums is to teach an introductory subject in Python followed by a more advanced software engineering subject in Java. We are building an online tool that will help students who already know Python learn the syntax and semantics of Java. Our system will differ from existing online tutors and tools for learning Java in two main aspects. First, our tutor will focus on the transition from Python to Java. Using this basis will allow us to gloss over basic concepts of programming which students are already familiar with and focus on the specifics of Java. Second, our tutor will crowdsource writing test cases for problems to the learners themselves. This will give students practice writing tests, and will also reduce the burden on instructors, who would otherwise need to implement test suites for every problem in the tutor.