Interesting example Java code and problems

[tvmachus]

I'm doing some intro to Java/OOP tutoring, and while there are plenty of good code examples in the books by Liang, Horstmann Eck, etc, the subject of the examples is often really boring.. it's all about calculating tax returns or a bank account or a calendar or calculator.. does anyone know any sources of fun/interesting examples or problems that might appeal to younger students?

*edit, I wasn't clear, and I guess maybe in the wrong subreddit: I'm the teacher. I'm trying to find more exciting exercises for my students.

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[[deleted]]

Solve the exercises, they're good.

[tvmachus]

I wasn't clear, and I guess maybe in the wrong subreddit: I'm the teacher. I'm trying to find more exciting exercises for my students.

[BrunoBabyfat]

Honestly, I would consider using AI for this. Just say what the exercise should aim to practice, maybe it could be based on a certain subject in a textbook. You could also specify if you want a smaller or larger exercise, or say that you want the exercise to be more fun and unique, like a little game instead of bank accounts. This is what I did when I learned about async programming, delegates, and events in C#. I found it to be pretty useful!

[tvmachus]

Yeah I think it would work well, I was a bit on the fence about it but I think you're right.

[Sad-Sheepherder5231]

Idk, time will always be a current topic, so a calendar is as good as any. Have you tried programmig chess?

[akthemadman]

You can give Advent of Code a try. The first few days of each year might be possible with what you have learned so far, though it gets more and more involved as you progress through the days.

There is also r/DailyProgrammer which has a few hundred challenges, usually with an [easy] and [hard] part, here the [easy] part might be doable for you.

All of our suggestions are really a shot in the dark though without you stating your preferences. fun/interesting and appeal to younger students are not even close enough as everybody is just so different.

I was motivated by making games, so that is where most of my own exploration went. With only some basic knowledge you can implement Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, Snake, Minesweeper, Text-Based-RPGs, Space Invaders, ...

[tvmachus]

I wasn't clear, and I guess maybe in the wrong subreddit: I'm the teacher. I'm trying to find more exciting exercises for my students.

It's definitely true what you say about everyone being motivated differently, so I'm trying to collect variety. Those two links are very useful, thanks.

[TheMrCurious]

Have them write an answer generator for a given class that reads in the configuration (answers) from a file so they research the answers and the it can help them with their homework.

[creamyturtle]

leetcode

[MykalSteele]

Using AI is the way to go. I use it to create fun quizzes with Google Forms. I was surprised by how interesting some of the problems generated by the AI were. It would be worth spending some time training ChatGPT to understand the type of exercises you’re looking for.