Resources to support the use of Java in introductory computer science

The growth in popularity of the object-oriented paradigm and the decision by the College Board to move the Advanced Placement Computer Science program to Java have led an increasing number of universities, colleges, and secondary schools to adopt Java as the programming language for their introductory computer science course. At the same time, many institutions find Java difficult to teach because of its significant detail complexity and its tendency to evolve rapidly over time. Such problems have led to periodic calls from within the computer science education community for the creation of simpler tools and a manageable Java subset specifically designed for presentation at the introductory level. Responding to this concern, the ACM Education Board has appointed a new task force whose mission is to develop an appropriate set of Java-based teaching resources that bears the endorsement of our professional society. The purpose of this special session is to introduce this task force to the SIGCSE community and to begin the discussions necessary to ensure that the deliverables produced by the task force will meet the needs of a wide range of institutions.