Welcome!

Welcome to the website for Introduction to Computer Science-2 (CMSC 15200-1), a course that will take place from July 25th to August 26th 2005 as part of the University of Chicago's Summer Session. This course will provide a (highly practical) introduction to computer programming using the C/C++ language, and will emphasize developing general programming skills.

Instructor: Borja Sotomayor

E-mail: borja AT cs DOT uchicago DOT edu [More contact info]

Lectures: MWF 10:30-12:20 in Ryerson 251

Lab: W 1:00-2:50 in JRL A01C (Maclab, A-level of Regenstein Library)

Office hours: By appointment. I'm usually available right after class, and Mondays and Fridays after lunch (around 1:30pm). Tuesday and Thursday mornings are generally also good.

• Grades
• Homework
• Labs
• Optional exercises
• Files
• Book
• Syllabus
• Grading
• Bibliography

Book

The text for this course is Absolute C++, 2nd edition, by Walter Savitch, published by Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0321330234. The book will be available for purchase from the Seminary Co-op Bookstore (5757 South University Avenue).

Your are not strictly required to purchase the book, as the lecture notes should be enough to get you past the homework and the exam. However, we strongly recommend that you buy the book if you intend to continue working with C++, as it can be an invaluable reference (plus the source of many interesting exercises during the course itself).

Syllabus

This course will cover the following:

[Note: The syllabus might still undergo minor changes]

Week 1: The Basics (I)

• Introduction to computer programming and C/C++
• Variables, expressions, assignment, operators
• Basic I/O
• Control flow
• Functions
• Introduction to pointers, arrays

Week 2: The Basics (II)

• Pointers and dynamic memory
• Strings
• More functions (parameters, recursion, ...)
• Structs
• Streams, file I/O

Week 3: Data Structures and Algorithms

• Introduction to data structures
• Linked lists (in depth in C++)
• Queues, stacks, trees, graphs (only theory)
• Interesting algorithms: sorting, merging, search, etc.

Week 4: Object-Oriented (OO) Programming

• Introduction to OO
• Classes
• Constructors
• Encapsulation
• Inheritance
• Polymorphism

Week 5: Templates and the STL

• C++ templates
• The Standard Template Library
• Interesting STL data structures: vector, set, map, ...
• Generic algorithms

There will be five lab sessions to complement the class lectures. Attendance to the lab sessions is mandatory, and you will be expected to hand in the results of an exercise at the end of the lab.

• Lab 1: Getting acquainted. Control flow.
• Lab 2: Debugging with Eclipse, functions, parameters, pointers.
• Lab 3: File I/O, data structures
• Lab 4: Separate compilation, data structures and OO
• Lab 5: STL

Through these lab sessions you will gain practical knowledge of C/C++ programming in a UNIX operating system. We will see different programming tools, but we will focus mainly on using GCC from the command-line, and Eclipse as an example of a C/C++ IDE that will allow us to easily debug our programs (yes, Eclipse is mainly a Java IDE, but also includes excellent C/C++ support).

Grading

Grading will be based on homework (40%), labs (20%), and a final exam (40%). Students will have the option of doing a take-home exam halfway through the course to get an idea of what the final exam will be like. If this option is chosen, then the take-home exam will account for 10% of the grade and the final exam will account for 30%.

Homework

There will be two weekly homework assignments: a short assignment handed out on Wednesday and due on Friday, and a longer one handed out on Friday and due on Wednesday. In the homework assignments you will be required to solve a programming problem related to the topics covered in class so far.

Labs

There will be five lab sessions to complement the class lectures. Attendance to the lab sessions is mandatory, and you will be expected to hand in the results of an exercise at the end of the lab.

Final Exam

For the final exam, you will be given two hours in front of a computer (in the Maclab) to solve several programming exercises. You will be allowed to use books, lecture notes, printouts of exercises, etc. In fact, you can bring anything with you to the exam except disks, USB drives, etc. And, of course, you will not be allowed to talk with your classmates during the exam.

The exam is not intended to test your ability to memorize C/C++ syntax, learn algorithms by heart, or remembering exactly how a certain data structure is crafted. Rather, the goal of the exam is to test that you understand all the material seen in class and that you know how to apply all that knowledge to construct a working program in a real, working computer (not in a piece of paper).

Practice, practice, practice

This course is intended to be highly practical. Although there will be more lecture hours than lab hours, you will be expected to practice, practice, practice on your own time. To that effect, we will be providing optional exercises for you to do. These exercises will not be graded, and are simply provided as a way for you to practice C/C++ programming on your own.

Note that, although these optional exercises are not graded, you can still hand them in (at any point during the course) for the instructor to review them (so you can know how you're doing in the course).

Bibliography

C/C++ Books

• Brian W. Kernighan, Dennis M. Ritchie. The C Programming Language, 2nd edition, 1988, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-110362-8.
  This book is called "The C Bible". 'nuff said.
• Bjarne Stroustrup. The C++ Programming Language, 3rd edition, 1997, Addison-Wesley Professional, ISBN 0201889544.
  And this, logically, is "The C++ Bible". Rather dense, but also very complete.
• Deitel & Associates. C++ How to Program, 5th edition, 2005, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-185757-6.
  Very complete C/C++ book.
• Ira Pohl. C++ by Dissection, 2002, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-78733-4.
  Introduction to C++ using the method of "dissecting" examples (providing a structured walk-through of examples) to highlight the features of the language. Specially recommended for beginners.
• Al Kelley, Ira Pohl. C by Dissection, 4th edition, 2001, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-71374-8.
  Same as above, but only for the C language.
• Samuel P. Harbison, Guy L. Steele, Jr. C: A Reference Manual, 5th edition, 2002, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-089592X.
  A 'must-have' reference manual for any professional C programmer.

You can also find a lot of useful links in Kenneth Harris' excellent CMSC 15200 page (Kenneth is the lab instructor for CMSC 15200 during the regular school year).