[765] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
CLASS: Online REXX class
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Esther Schindler)
Sat Mar 2 23:57:50 1996
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: 3 Mar 1996 01:32:00 GMT
From: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
Reply-To: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
Reply-To: esther@primenet.com (Esther Schindler)
Submitted by: (Esther Schindler)
Source: (Esther Schindler)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought you might like to know that you can take a class on REXX -- online.
For free.
(Did someone say FREE?)
The class will be held on ZD Net on CompuServe. GO ZDUNIVERSITY to sign up for
the "Hands On REXX" class, which will be moderated by Bill Schindler and
Esther Schindler, authors of _Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days_. The class is 7
weeks long, and begins on March 11. (You'll want to sign up early, as
registration is limited: first come, first served.)
Here's what the class will be cover.
===================================================================
"Hands-on REXX" Bill Schindler and Esther Schindler
Instructors
March 11 through April 28, 1996
1) Requirements
This course will require concentration, effort, time, and dedication. In
return, you will master fundamental programming concepts, gain an in-depth
knowledge of almost every REXX feature, and learn how to use REXX as a batch
language as well as a real-world programming tool. You will need to spend no
less than an hour a day working on the examples and reading the chapters in
the associated text book (Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days, ISBN 0-672-30529-1,
also available to download in an electronic version on March 6, GO ZDSTORE).
2) Objective
To provide a general course on REXX and simultaneously teach general
programming techniques to novice programmers. By the end of the course,
students will be comfortable with REXX syntax and structure, will be familiar
with using REXX to manipulate various OS/2 Workplace Shell components and
creating application macros. Students will understand program flow and
control, stem variables, REXX debugging techniques, and utility libraries.
3) What you will learn in "Hands-on REXX"
This intense, demanding and exciting course will teach you everything you need
to become a proficient REXX programmer. It will teach you:
* Programming fundamentals including debugging, testing,
and dealing with user input
* Essential REXX syntax
* Executing system commands
* Program control
* RexxUtil functions
* Manipulating Workplace Shell objects
* Extending OS/2 applications
No programming experience is assumed, so the class (and the book) uses
hundreds of small, detailed example programs to show you REXX features. We
will analyze every example and complement the examples with questions and
answers, plus homework assignments based on the quizzes and exercises in the
text.
4) Syllabus
The "Hands-on REXX" course is designed for people who want an intensive
introduction to REXX with particular focus on OS/2. The 7-week class assumes
no prior programming experience, although it is also appropriate for those who
have programming experience but need to learn about REXX or OS/2.
This course will require concentration, effort, time, and dedication. In
return, you will master fundamental programming concepts, gain an in-depth
knowledge of every REXX feature, and learn how to use REXX as a batch language
as well as a real-world programming tool.
REXX is included with OS/2, so you don't need to purchase a separate compiler.
You will need to ensure that you have REXX support installed. You probably do,
since it's the default setting, but if you don't, the book includes a short
appendix to help you get REXX onto your system. If you're using REXX with
another operating system (which is entirely possible, since REXX is available
for everything from mainframes to Amiga computers),you will probably want to
find an OS/2 system to use during the length of the course. You'll still be
able to follow along through most of the course without one, but you have a
higher likelihood of getting utterly confused. (You'll do that in any case,
while you're learning something new. Why make it worse?)
5) Course Outline
Week 1: REXX ground rules (Chapters 1-2)
We start slow during the first week to help students new to programming come
up to speed. If you're already experienced in another programming language,
this week will be a review for you. You'll learn the differences between REXX
and other programming languages, and the basic structure of a REXX program.
Week 2: REXX Fundamentals (Chapters 3, 4, 5)
During this week, we look at the basic building blocks of a REXX program.
We'll discuss variables and constants, as well as instructions, expressions,
and operators. You'll learn how to perform basic (and not-so-basic) math
functions using REXX. By the end of this week, you'll be producing useful (if
not precisely awe-inspiring) REXX programs, and you'll find out how to put the
"fun" in "fundamental."
Week 3: Communicating with OS/2 (Chapters 6, 7, 8)
During the third week, we'll focus on how your REXX program can interact with
users. You'll learn about the basic input-output functions and OS/2 system
commands. Toward the end of the week, you'll learn how your program can make
decisions using relational and logical operators.
Week 4: Program control (Chapters 9, 10, 11)
In the fourth week of the class, we'll spend time learning how to use and
manipulate text using REXX. You'll also learn about the various kinds of
loops. And, since by now you'll have discovered how to make a program fail
utterly, we'll also spend some time discussing how to test and debug programs.
(By this point you'll want any wisdom on that subject you can get.)
Week 5: Intermediate features (Chapters 12, 13, 14, 15)
This intensive week will cover one of the unique features of REXX: stem
variables and associative memory. We'll also spend more time on dealing with
user input (especially defensive programming), and introduce both subroutines
and file input/output streams.
Week 6: External libraries (Chapters 16, 17, 18)
This week, you'll learn how to accomplish impressive things with the OS/2
Workplace Shell. You'll learn how to use RexxUtil and other external libraries
to create objects, to create simple and complex menu programs, and to access
and modify your INI files.
Week 7: Advanced features and a peek into the future
(Chapters 19, 20, 21)
In the last week, we'll go into more depth as you learn to manipulate OS/2
Workplace Shell objects. You'll discover how to use REXX as a macro language
for many OS/2 applications, and to use REXX with named pipes and queues. We'll
also discuss REXX's future, and talk about Object REXX and other cool stuff.
About the authors
Bill Schindler is an experienced programmer who has worked on just about every
operating system and used nearly every computer language available. In
addition to writing Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days, he has written several
articles about computer programming and development tools, and is currently
working on a book about OpenDoc programming. Bill has been programming
professionally for 13 years, and for ten of those years he has been an
independent consultant. He is also editor of the Phoenix OS/2 Society's
award-winning publication, "Extended Attributes," a sysop in the CompuServe
OS2AVEN and OS2BVEN forums, and (possibly just to prove that he does have a
real life) has also won awards for his home-brewed beer.
Esther Schindler is primary sysop of the ZD Net Executives Online forum and
the User Group forum, senior contributing editor at OS/2 Magazine, and a
well-known chocoholic (not necessarily in that order). While Bill insists that
she can, indeed, program her way out of a paper bag (enough so that she helped
write Teach Yourself REXX in 21 Days), she has spent the last few years
focusing on user issues and reviewing every OS/2 application she can get her
hands on. She's also author of The Computer Speech Book and New Riders' Guide
to Modems. She also serves as user group program chair, a corporate trainer on
OS/2, and chief taste-tester for the aforementioned beer.
Neither of the Schindlers has ever been accused of taking themselves too
seriously. They do, however, continue to believe that computers are really
neat.
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