M250 - Object-Oriented Java Programming

The OU courses site has a rough description of M250 here.

M250 covers the basics of Java programming (including how the JVM works, which was a great addition for non-Java programmers like myself).

Beyond this early content, it delves into actual "enterprise" programming in a Java context, covering classes, inheritance, file IO, different object types etc.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel challenged during the entire module. I signed up for a degree just as much for personal challenges and improvement as I did to further my career. So spending a year covering the basics of OOP in a different language didn't do much for my growth.

Fair enough, I now know more about Java that I used to. Discovering the language conventions and pitfalls might help if I ever need to write some Java code, but other than that, this module was almost completely skippable, personally.

The reason this module didn't excite me is likely because of my prior experience in OOP, rather than a failure in teaching or content. My lecturer gave brilliant feedback, marked assignments fairly quickly, and responded to any questions I had within a day or two. The textbook was useful, especially during exam revision.

The only material downside to this module was the IDE. BlueJ was designed as an educational-IDE for Java, which serves as a great introduction to the language (it's cross platform, has a super intuitive UI, it's designed as to not be overwhelming). However, it would have been nice to see at least an introduction (even as an optional chapter) to a modern, relevant, industry-standard IDE such as IntelliJ.

In my opinion this should have been a stage 1 module.

Disclaimer: If you're reading this because you want to start a degree with the OU, or you're trying to decide between modules. This is the only module I've experienced this with yet. For the most part, I enjoyed this module.