Re-imagining CS1/CS2 with Android using the Sofia framework
Stephen H. Edwards, Anthony Allevato · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2014
Introductory CS courses are using Android to excite students about their programming assignments, but using the standard Android libraries in CS2 presents numerous challenges and using it in CS1 is nearly impossible. This workshop introduces participants to Sofia, the Simplified Open Framework for Innovative Android Applications. Sofia abstracts out many advanced concepts normally required for interesting applications, using a unique approach to event handling, binding GUI elements to Java code, and user interaction. This allows students to focus entirely on using Java programming skills to solve problems, instead of writing monotonous glue code typically required to construct Android apps.