This subject has now been apparently reworked. The pace of the content is really very interesting. Apparently students at Monash University in Australia need to learn at a really, really, reeeeeealy slow pace. By week 6 you learn about the pretty complex if, then, else statements. But fasten your seatbelts, because the next week you will be doing loops. Seven weeks of learning, are you ready for the AWESOME POWER OF LOOPS???? Few survive this furious pedagogical pace and many are now recovering in specialised remedial clinics scatted throughout their vast land. If you are a serious student, you need to really, really ask yourself what is going on at this University. Oh and because by the first assignment you have literally only learnt some basic print statements and strings, the marking is completely arbitrary and pointless. You may be treated like an obtuse dullard, but that doesn't mean you won't lose marks in your assignment because you didn't declare a string EXACTLY the way the tutor expected.

Easily one of the best taught units. Compared to other programming language units, the Java unit follows closely to what it was advertised to teaching: Introduction to Java. The concepts taught in this unit is vital to various IT practices. Time and time again I meet with new applications to what was taught in this unit. The structure of this unit is very well coordinated. The lectures was always very enjoyable and the labs are an amazing place to solidify the understanding of the materials of the unit. This unit does have a pitfall however, and that is not preparing any work prior to the labs and lecture. This unit, like many other units that Monash's IT faculty offers, always define in the first few weeks how they expect you to study. In this unit, you are expected to have some prior knowledge before the start of the Lectures and the Labs in order to be able to keep up with the discussion in each class.

Okay so getting the good out of the way... the head lecturer Nawfal Ali is amazing and super passionate about the subject, knows his stuff really well and keeps tutes interesting when he goes to them. The content itself also isn't too bad and interesting to learn. But wow my WAM is gonna hate me for doing this. The non-exam assessment is this frustrating weekly struggle to keep up with. 3 assessable items EVERY WEEK and 2 hurdles EVERY WEEK. It's horrible. So this is how its worked for me thus far: Pre-reading quiz, due every Sunday. Started out okay, but now they've become ridiculously tough to pass: trick questions, 6 or 7 multi choice options, answers to questions where it says "try coding this yourself!" except you'd have NO IDEA how to code it unless you're already a Java genius since it hasn't been taught yet. So then you're stuck googling around for half an hour trying to find how to do it. Assuming you pass this (since its a 50%+ hurdle to get this next item): workshop quiz. Don't get me f***ing started on this. Its an 8am COMPULSORY lecture with a quiz that you're given basically a 20 minute time window to complete on Moodle, since the questions themselves aren't shown on Moodle but on the lecture slides. So someone like me who has to work until 1am most sunday nights can say goodbye to 10% of their grade just like that. Labs. Admittingly the saving grace for my non-exam grade at the moment. However they seem so pointless - I learn nothing by doing these since all of them work off some strange, complex template with a bunch of classes that displays a GUI to work in. I wouldn't have a clue how to code a Java program from scratch tbh and we're already almost halfway through the semester. (also - don't go to the tut for that week and you won't be able to get this mark either. The tuts are basically an hour wasted since its just repeating the content of the monday lecture with some "class participation") Unless this subject is compulsory for you - just avoid it. The hit you will take to your WAM (unless you make much more time than expected for this subject) is just not worth it. Just teach Java to yourself with youtube tutorials or something... definitely what I wish I did.

March Cheong is one of the best lecturers for IT. He puts in a lot of effort and is super passionate in teaching. Get ready for free chocolates throughout the semester.

March Cheong puts in a lot of effort and is super passionate in teaching. If you don't like analogies, Taylor Swift and old memes. Good luck