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ABSTRACT

History has given us the array as the fundamental data structure to present to students within the CS1 curriculum. However, with the recent growth in popularity of object-oriented languages for CS1 (C++, Java, C#), and with that, the acceptance of the objects-first or objects-early approach to teaching CS1, it becomes imperative that we re-evaluate our long-held beliefs about what is appropriate to teach. It is our position that the first data structure that students are exposed to should not be arrays, but rather some other form of collection. We will give some examples of how to use <i>java.util.HashMap</i> and some of the other Java Collections classes in substitution of arrays. We also present data concerning the academic performance of students using arrays versus those using Java Collections for CS1 lab exercises.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Computer science education

Keywords:
CS1, arrays, curriculum, data structures, object oriented-design, object-oriented programming, objects-first