Map Instructions:
Assuming that not all users have previously used Greenfoot, I provide the following instructions…
- Java is required to access the map
- To start the program, click the ‘run’ button at the bottom of the window
- On the first screen, press ‘enter’ on your keyboard to continue
- On the instructions page, press ‘enter’ on your keyboard to continue
- Left-click each area to bring up the map window
- Right-click on the window to stop viewing that picture
Goal:
When I started the program, I had a few things in mind; I wanted to accurately provide information about the areas, I wanted it to be user-friendly, and I wanted it to work. At the time, those 3 goals seemed nice and simple. As time progressed, however, each one of these goals would take its own toll.
First off, I needed data for each of these places, whether that place was a building, the courtyard, or the underground. It was this part of the map that I had to rely more on observations made by my group members and I, as well as various bits and pieces of information that we had collected. For the buildings, I heavily relied on the historical information and the meaning behind the names of each building. As for the courtyard, however, I looked more at the design of various aspects in the courtyard, such as the columns, the tall buildings, and the closed in area. Finally, for the basement of the Quad, I relied on pure observations and feelings to describe the area. All pictures used in the information windows were taken by the me.
The next big concern was making it user-friendly. Any program can easily be thrown together without consideration for the user, but then it’s not much of a program, is it? The original proof-of-concept program, as well as the original upload, both used only keyboard functions to run the program. It worked, but it wasn’t very pretty, and it wasn’t very user-friendly either. So, in the later updates, I added in easy to use mouse functions, as well as an actual instruction screen, to try to make it as user-friendly as possible.
Finally, that’s when the last goal became a concern, making it actually work. The original program was very simple and easy to run, but it wasn’t very impressive either. I’d had previous experience programming before, but it had been a while and I didn’t already know how to do everything I needed to do. Excuse me for the jargon, but I had forgotten how to set up and use strings, and I had never learned to use mouse functions either. After looking at a couple of examples though, as well as re-reading the help libraries that Greenfoot provides, programming only became a matter of time instead of difficulty. After some long nights, as well as some trial and error, the map was finally up to my standards, and the final update was uploaded and made public.
Programming:
All of the programming was done by using the Greenfoot programming language. Greenfoot, described briefly, is a learning tool for novice programmers used to help teach the Java programming language. If you read all the way to this tab hoping to be taught how to program, than I’m sorry to disappoint you, but that was not the intent of the map. The intent of the map was to provide an easy to use tool for people to get a better insight into the Quad. If you still wish to learn how to program this map and more, however, feel free to ask me questions, or search the internet for help as well. Greenfoot provides wonderful tools for beginners, and provides a great community for those who are new to programming!
~ Allen Hazelwood
The Engineering Quad 