27 November 1997 Popular new computer language to be taught in introductory paper at Lincoln

One of today's up-to-the-moment and in-demand computer languages, Visual Basic, joins Lincoln University's introductory Computer Programming paper, from Semester One next year.

"This is an exciting development and will enable students to learn how to create sophisticated Windows NT or 95 applications," says the examiner for the paper, Walt Abell of the University's Centre for Computing and Biometrics.

"For speed and ease of use Visual Basic has a lot of attractive potential. It can be used to create programs that query and update databases, to display graphics and animation, perform complex calculations and even to create interactive controls for Web pages.

"Visual Basic is also the same language used in Excel, Word and Access to write macros for automating tasks."

From the students' point of view the change will mean they are exposed to a developing industry standard that emphasises the concepts of object-oriented analysis and programming. Object oriented approaches view software as a collection of cooperating parts (e.g. buttons, fields and database connections) and are commonly employed in graphics user interface design.

"Many of these concepts and techniques are already an integral part of a number of Windows packages such as Excel and Paradox," says Mr Abell.

"Visual Basic's easy-to-use development environment makes learning and creating Windows software straightforward and a lot of fun."

For the Centre the change to Visual Basic is part of an on-going movement towards object oriented methodologies, commonly used in graphical user interface design. The Centre already teaches the C++ language at 300-level and is evaluating other systems such as Java (an object oriented language for Web development) and Jade (an object oriented database and development system) for use in other classes.

For today's students who want to major in Applied Computing Lincoln University offers a number of degree pathways including Bachelor of Applied Computing, Bachelor of Commerce and Management and Bachelor of Science.

With the Bachelor of Applied Computing at least half the degree must be made up of computing subjects and the balance of papers can be drawn from other areas offered at the University such as commerce, resource management, science, mathematics and statistics, environmental science, conservation and ecology, tourism or forestry management.

Because computing now constitutes a significant component of most professional careers, Lincoln finds increasingly that students from almost all its degree areas choose to include some computing papers in their study mix somewhere along the line. Popular papers in this regard include Computer Programming, Problem Solving on Microcomputers, Analysis and Design of Information Systems, Advanced End User Computing, Multimedia Development and Applications.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand