Discussion Board

The Discussion Board (DB) is part of the core of online learning. Classroom discussion in an online environment requires the active participation of students and the instructor to create robust interaction and dialogue. Every student is expected to create an original response to the open-ended DB question as well as engage in dialogue by responding to posts created by others throughout the week. At the end of each unit, DB participation will be assessed based on both level of engagement and the quality of the contribution to the discussion.

At a minimum, each student will be expected to post an original and thoughtful response to the DB question and contribute to the weekly dialogue by responding to at least two other posts from students. The first contribution must be posted before midnight (Central Time) on Friday of each week. Two additional responses are required after Friday of each week. Students are highly encouraged to engage on the Discussion Board early and often, as that is the primary way the university tracks class attendance and participation.

The purpose of the Discussion Board is to allow students to learn through sharing ideas and experiences as they relate to course content and the DB question. Because it is not possible to engage in two-way dialogue after a conversation has ended, no posts to the DB will be accepted after the end of each unit.

Almost all programs need data to operate, and the data must be stored somewhere. Data structures serve the purpose of storing data in a program in an organized way.

Based on your knowledge, experience, and ideas, discuss data structures (such as arrays or array lists) in the language of your choice. Answer 2-3 of the following questions in your report:

How are data structures managed and organized in this language?

How does the management or syntax of data structures in this language differ from how data structures are handled in other language?

Give an example of how a data structure is used in this language, including declaration, setting values in the structure, and using values contained in the structure

Does the language include an ArrayList structure? If so, how does it differ from ArrayLists in other languages, such as C#?

Does the language include a generic structure, meaning one which does not require the setting of a data type before it can store data? If not, does the language have any means by which variables can be stored without a data type?

Are the data structures in this language strongly or weakly typed?

Are there any significant general advantages or disadvantages to using data structures with this language?

When replying to other students, use these questions to expand their ideas, either by adding to what the other students discussed about a language, or by comparing their post with your own.

In your own words, please post a response to the Discussion Board and comment on other postings. You will be graded on the quality of your postings.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.