Course details

User Interface Programming

ITU Acad. year 2018/2019 Winter semester 5 credits

Current academic year

Communication between computers and humans, information throughput of the interfaces, different ways to implement the interfaces, history of user interfaces and development tools, user interfaces of the current operation systems - Windows, iOS, X-Window. and others, event controlled interfaces in detail, tools for application and user interface programming, traditional, object, and component models of the interface, elements of the user interfaces - buttons, listboxes, editboxes, etc., properties of the user interface building blocks, future development in user interface design.

Guarantor

Beran Vítězslav, doc. Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)

Course coordinator

Zemčík Pavel, prof. Dr. Ing., dr. h. c. (DCGM)

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Completion

Classified Credit (written+oral)

Time span

  • 26 hrs lectures
  • 12 hrs pc labs
  • 14 hrs projects

Assessment points

  • 20 pts mid-term test (test part)
  • 25 pts numeric exercises
  • 55 pts projects

Department

Department of Computer Graphics and Multimedia (UPGM)

Lecturer

Beran Vítězslav, doc. Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)
Herout Adam, prof. Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)
Hrubý Martin, Ing., Ph.D. (DITS)
Mlích Jozef, Ing.
Pluskal Jan, Ing., Ph.D. (DIFS)
Zemčík Pavel, prof. Dr. Ing., dr. h. c. (DCGM)

Instructor

Bambušek Daniel, Ing. (DCGM)
Beran Vítězslav, doc. Ing., Ph.D. (DCGM)
Dobeš Petr, Ing. (DCGM)
Chlubna Tomáš, Ing. (DCGM)
Nosko Svetozár, Ing. (DCGM)
Švec Tomáš, Ing. (DCGM)

Subject specific learning outcomes and competences

The students will learn and understand the importance of user interfaces for efficient computer usage. They will learn basic principles and stucture of the application and user interface development tools; get acquainted with the history of such development tools and the probable future development. They will experience the user interface development on a series of examples, learn about the common building blocks of the user interfaces, and get familiar with properties of the building blocks in Windows, and understand the differences in X-Window or iOS implementations. They will also get the important skills needed in development of applications.
The students will learn to search team partners and to work in team. They will also improve their skills in development tools usage and also in practical programming.

Learning objectives

To learn and understand the importance of user interfaces for efficient computer usage. To learn basic principles and stucture of the application and user interface development tools. To get acquainted with the history of such development tools and the probable future development. To experience the user interface development on a series of examples. To learn about the common building blocks of the user interfaces. To get familiar with properties of the building blocks in Windows, and understand the differences in X-Window or iOS implementations. To get the important skills needed in development of applications for the real-life and student projects.

Why is the course taught

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) is a key element in making computers accessible to people. Nowadays, computer capabilities are unprecedented and the only limit is how people can use the computing power of these machines to communicate with the machine. GUIs are today the most common and yet the most effective way for people to communicate with computers. The ITU course teaches how to create such GUIs using modern technologies.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Basic knowledge of C/C++ programming.

Study literature

  • Yu-kai Chou: Actionable Gamification - Beyond Points, Badges, and Leaderboards. Octalysis Media, ISBN 978-1511744041, 2015.
  • Rubin, J., Chisnell, D., Spool, J.: Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests. Wiley, ISBN 978-0470185483, 2008.
  • Steve Krug: Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. New Riders, ISBN 978-0321965516, 2014.

Fundamental literature

  • Preece J.: Human-Computer Interaction. Addison-Wesley, Wokingham, ISBN 0-201-62769-8, 1995.
  • Sheridan Yuen: Mastering Windows Presentation Foundation: Master the art of building modern desktop applications on Windows. Packt Publishing, ISBN 978-1785883002, 2017.

Syllabus of lectures

  1. Introduction to course and GUI (organization, introduction)
  2. GUI design and testing (materials)
  3. Principles, applications, inputs and dialogs in Windows (Principles,Dialogs, Inputs, Dialog demo C++Builder5/6)
  4. Advanced tools and libraries for Windows (WPF and .NET)
  5. Qt (presentation, examples)
  6. QML (presentation, demonstration)
  7. Web interfaces (presentation)
  8. GUI on iOS (presentation)
  9. GTK (Carlos Soriano Sanchez, Red Hat, in english, presentation, demos)
  10. Mobile platforms (presentation)
  11. Web interfaces - advanced technologies (presentation)
  12. Gamification (presentation)
  13. Final test, Conclusion

The lecture order might be updated during the term.

Syllabus of computer exercises

  • GUI design - design discussions, project mock-ups
  • Windows API demonstration, Simple component-oriented programming example, Keyboard and mouse in Windows, cursor changes, clipboard
  • Qt simple application
  • WPF simple application
  • Web principles demonstration and example application

Syllabus - others, projects and individual work of students

  • individual project assignment - one project for the whole duration of the course

Progress assessment

  • Final test - up to 20 points
  • Evaluated computer laboratories - up to 25 points
  • Individual projects - up to 55 points


Exam prerequisites:
successful project

Controlled instruction

The monitored activities include individual project, test and evaluated computer laboratories. The test does not have correction term.

Exam prerequisites

successful project

Course inclusion in study plans

  • Programme IT-BC-3, field BIT, 3rd year of study, Compulsory
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