Alice: A Free 3D Animation World for Teaching Programming

1. Alice: A Free 3D Animation World for Teaching Programming Barbara Ericson ericson@cc.gatech.edu Georgia Institute of Technology Oct 2005

2. What is Alice? • Free 3d animation software • From Carnegie Mellon University • Available from http://www.alice.org • Used to teach • Programming concepts • Objects and classes • Methods, functions, and properties • Conditionals (if and else) • Iteration (looping) • Recursion • Event-driven programming Georgia Institute of Technology

3. Alice Requirements • Modern Computer • 500 MHz CPU or better • 128 MB RAM or better • Video resolution of 1024 by 768 or better • VGA graphics card with 16 bit or better color • A sound card • Does work on windows and macs Georgia Institute of Technology

4. Why Learn to Program? • Number of CS Majors is down 40% • Since 2001 • Predicted to be one of the fastest growing fields through 2012 • US Dept of Labor • The number of jobs in computing is now greater than in 2001 • And growing • We are facing a massive shortage of people • With knowledge of computing Georgia Institute of Technology

5. Why don’t Students want to Program? • Myth: all the jobs are going overseas • Less than 1% have • Myth: You have to be a nerd or geek • Programming won’t turn you into a nerd or geek • Students perception of programming: • Too hard • Not interesting • Not relevant • Not creative • Not social • Too math based Georgia Institute of Technology

6. Why Use Alice? • Students find using Alice • Easier than textual programming • No syntax errors • Motivating • People love to tell stories • Relevant • Students are used to 3d games and animated movies • Creative • Like being the director of a movie or play • Social • Share what was created Georgia Institute of Technology

7. Getting Started • Install Alice • Copy folder from CD • Start Alice • Double Click on Icon (Alice.exe) • Wait for Alice to start • Can take a few minutes Georgia Institute of Technology

8. Pick a World • Click on the Examples tab • And click on a world to open it • You might need to scroll down to see this world Georgia Institute of Technology

9. Playing the Movie • To play a saved movie • Click the Play button • The movie or game will start to play in a separate window • Click on target to play this movie • Most example worlds will just start to play Georgia Institute of Technology

10. Create Your Own Movie • Click on File • Then New World • Click on a template • Background and ground type Georgia Institute of Technology

11. Add Objects To the World • Click the Add Objects button • Select an Object Category from the Local Gallery • Select Local Gallery to get back from a category • To the list of categories Georgia Institute of Technology

12. Add Objects to the World • Select an object to add • Click on object to select • Click Add Instance to world Button • Or drag the object and drop it into position in the world Georgia Institute of Technology

13. Position an Object in the World • Once the object is in the world • You can move it by • Dragging it with the mouse • Or using the mouse controls • Click the Undo button to undo the last action Georgia Institute of Technology

14. Mouse Controls • Use mouse control buttons (from left to right) • To move object left, right, forward, back • Up and down • Turn left or right • Turn forward or backwards • Tumble the object (free rotation) • Resize object • Copy the object Georgia Institute of Technology

15. Deleting an Object • Click on the object you want to delete • The object will be displayed with a bounding box around it • Click the right mouse button • Select delete from the pop-up menu Georgia Institute of Technology

16. Posing an Object • You can move just a part of an object • Click affect subparts box under mouse controls • Select a part to move with the mouse • Mouse controls will affect just that part • Or use the object tree • To pick the part to move Georgia Institute of Technology

17. Ask Objects to do Things in Methods • In object-oriented programming we ask objects to do things • They can refuse • They ‘know’ how to do things • In Alice we will do this in a method • A named set of requests to objects • The play button executes • world.my first method Please clean your room Sure Georgia Institute of Technology

18. Viewing Methods • Click the Done button to stop adding objects to your scene • Click the object that you want to do something • In the object tree • Click on the Methods tab • To see the methods this object already knows Georgia Institute of Technology

19. Use Methods • Drag method names from the details window Methods area • to world.my first method • Can Group Methods • Do in order • One after the other • Or Do together • At the same time Georgia Institute of Technology

20. Moving and Deleting a Method • You can pick up a method and move it • Click on left (dotted) edge and drag it • Legal places to drop it will have a green line • To delete move to the trash can • Or right click and pick delete from the popup menu Georgia Institute of Technology

21. Posing an Object using the Menu • You can also use a popup menu to pose an object • Right click on an object in the object tree to bring up the methods • Select a method to execute it • Click on the Undo button to undo this action Georgia Institute of Technology

22. Quad View Click here to see Quad View • Use the Quad View to get multiple views of your objects • Normal camera view • From the top • From the right • From the front • Can zoom • And move the view Georgia Institute of Technology

23. Camera Controls • Use camera controls to change the starting camera view • Move up, down, left, right • Drive forwards, backwards, rotate left, rotate right • Tilt (rotate) camera forwards or backwards Georgia Institute of Technology

24. Saving a World • Click on File and Save World • Tell it where you want to save it • Give it a name • To open a saved world • Click on File, Open World • Pick the saved world Georgia Institute of Technology

25. Creating a Method • To teach an object to do a new thing • Create a new method • Name the method • Drag other methods into the new method • When you are done use the new method in world.my first method Georgia Institute of Technology

26. Creating a Class • A class can ‘inherit’ from an existing class • Right click on object in object tree and rename it • Right click and select save object (really save class) • Create copies of the object using mouse controls • Know the same methods • To make the methods work on any object of the class • Add a parameter for the object that it is invoked on • To move sub-parts need part named function • Be careful typing the name of the part • Case sensitive Georgia Institute of Technology

27. Creating People • You can use the she builder and he builder to build custom people • In the people category • Control the skin color, hair, eyes, body, and clothes Georgia Institute of Technology

28. Saving a Position • Click the more controls button • Drop a dummy • At the camera • Or at an object • Can move the camera to a dummy • Can set an object to the dummy’s position Georgia Institute of Technology

29. What can you teach with Alice? • Basics of Object-Oriented Programming • Objects and Classes • Methods and Parameters • Inheritance (the concept of it) • Alice doesn’t fully support inheritance • Iteration (looping) • Conditionals • Recursion • Lists and list processing • Arrays • Algorithm design, implementation, and testing • Basics of Event-driven programming Georgia Institute of Technology

30. Alice Tutorials • Click on File then Open World • Click on the Tutorial tab • And then click on a tutorial to run • When you finish with one tutorial do the next the same way Georgia Institute of Technology

31. Resources • Web site • http://www.alice.org • Book: Learning to Program with Alice • Wanda Dann, Stephen Cooper, Randy Pausch • Short Workshops at Georgia Tech • Check web site for teacher workshops http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/ • Summer 2-day workshops across the country • Curricular materials • http://aliceprogramming.net/ Georgia Institute of Technology