An approach to teaching design patterns using musical composition

ABSTRACT

We present an approach to teaching design patterns using a music composition project. The project is distinctive in that students are encouraged to discover and express their innate musical talents, and are exposed to some deep connections between programming and art. In addition to design patterns, the material provides opportunities for incorporating a surprisingly diverse range of topics---from data structures, grammars, parsing, to formal proofs.The approach has been used successfully in both introductory and advanced courses over a number of years.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.1 PROGRAMMING TECHNIQUES
      D.1.5 Object-oriented Programming

General Terms:
Design, Languages

Keywords:
design patterns, musical composition, pedagogy