There are a number of elements to the course. If you want to access one of these just click on the blue hot spot in each paragraph.

• First there is a prelude for each week (or group of weeks) of work you will be carrying out. The preludes discuss what you should be doing each week, describe potential difficulties and direct you to the reading you should be doing in the course books..
• There are also a number of pages devoted to the exercises we would like you to carry out. Each exercise contains a specification, test code, test results, hints and a solution. It is very important that you carry out these exercises in order to gain practice in Java programming. The prelude will direct you to the exercises which you should be doing in a certain week.
• The tutor-marked assignments (TMAs). There are three of these TMAs. Each involves a programming exercise which will result in a substantial amount of Java code. The prelude text will tell you when you should be working on these questions. You have to complete the TMAs in order to pass the course. You have received a printed Assignment Booklet; the full TMA questions, and the Java source code required, are also displayed on the stop press pages on the course Web site.
• A stop press. This will contain any information that is new. For example, if an error was discovered in a TMA, we would record this on the stop press page. Get into the habit of checking this page every week.
• A list of errata for the course texts. This should be small. Again you should check this part of the Web site fairly frequently.
• Some interesting Java-related materials on the World Wide Web.

• A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). These are general questions, course-related questions and Java-related questions. They are the ones that the course team have been frequently asked.
• We have also brought together a list of books that may be of interest to you. You do not need any other material to study this course apart from the course texts. However, if you continue with your Java programming some of the titles in this section will prove useful.
• You will always find yourself committing syntax errors with a programming language. Many of the Java errors that you make will follow the same patterns. We have provided you with a list of common syntax errors.
• A simple software guide which provides you with the rudiments of how to compile and execute Java programs. One of the first exercises on the course will take you through this process step by step.