Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen1 ACS-1805 Introduction to Programming using Alice 2.0 Ron McFadyen Course OutlineMcFadyenOutline

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen2 Alice 2.0, an introduction Alice 2.0 is a modern programming environment with: 3-D graphics 3-D models of objects Text: Learning to program with Alice; contains CD with software Latest version available at Originated, and development continues, at Carnegie Mellon University A similar environment, Panda3d, exists for the more advanced programmer. Pand3d was originally developed at Disney.

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen3 Alice 3.0 CMU and Electronic Arts are developing Alice 3.0 to provide objects from "The Sims" in a complete Java environment (?) 2.0 vs 3.0 An aside (a point of interest)

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen4 Alice 2.0 Virtual worlds Start a program by playing a virtual world Can play like a movie, or play like an interactive game Developing a world begins with a template (e.g. ground & sky) Objects Objects are added to the world (e.g. a person, a robot, a ball) Objects are chosen from a gallery of 3D models Object-oriented objects can do things – we send them messages commanding them to do what is necessary for an animation (e.g. move, turn, speak) Commands are contained in methods Event-driven User can interact with a world using the mouse or keyboard

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen5 Alice 2.0 Emphasizes programming fundamentals Programs are composed of methods Methods contain Alice instructions Objects are asked to do things they know how to do Events can trigger execution of program components Programs always run Alice has a smart editor with visual drag & drop (you tend to use the mouse more than the keyboard)

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen6 Demo1: running an example Start Alice Load and run a world snowLove (from Examples worlds) Pause, Restart, Stop

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen7 Demo2: create a world Create a new world File  New Select the Templates tab Choose a template Later on… remember to save your world

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen8 Demo2: Adding objects Adding objects Click the Add Objects button Click on Home, Local Gallery, Animals Click and drag an animal to the world

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen9 Demo2: Adding objects Manipulating a scene Use your mouse to move objects about Move the camera to get a different angle Switch to quad view to more precisely move objects about

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen10 Classes Objects are categorized/organized into classes e.g. Frog An object is an instance of the class. e.g frog1, george, mary Frog frog1 marygeorge

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen11 Object Parts Objects may be complex aliceLiddell has a rightArm The rightArm comprises a shoulder, and forearm, and the forearm has subparts too. A “+” means there are subparts that can be listed by clicking on the “+” A “-” means the subparts are listed. To suppress the listing of subparts click the “-” The picture on the right is showing the objects in a “tree” view

Fall 2008ACS-1805 Ron McFadyen12 Object Parts aliceLiddell rightArmleftArmnecklowerBody shoulderforearm hand thumb fingerTips fingers forearm hand thumb fingerTips fingers shoulder Consider the aliceLiddell object to the right. A computer scientist typically uses tree diagrams for complex hierarchical structures. Can you complete this for neck and lowerBody? ……