A Mobile Application Development Approach to Teaching Introductory Programming

Mobile devices such as smartphones are becoming widely used on university campuses, and as the shape of computing is evolving more into a mobile environment, the programmer of the future will need to be aware of special considerations that need to be taken into account when developing applications for mobile devices. These unique considerations will also assist the programmer to look at traditional application development on desktop platforms from a different perspective and apply some of the strategies in mobile application development to this area. This paper introduces a new approach for using mobile devices and mobile application development as a mechanism to teaching introductory programming to computer science, information technology, and computer engineering students. We will explore how the mobile device approach to teaching application development could help students to look at special considerations that must be taken into account when dealing with mobile devices while keeping them interested and excited by being on the forefront of technological changes. We provide sample applications that instructors could use as assignments to integrate into their courses.