Module G51PR1 Semester 1 1997/98; Rough lecture plan

Ceilidh course "pr1" : Introduction to C++ programming (Steve Benford).

This course is aimed at the complete novice to programming, and
teaches the first essentials if the C++ language.  The course can be
taken on its own, but Ceilidh supports two further C++ courses which
describe the object-oriented approach to program design in C++.  In
particular, the "pr2" course entitled "Programming in the large"
describes features which enable C++ to be used on larger projects.

At the completion of this "pr1" course, the student should know the
basic concepts of C++ for use when a program consists of a single
module. You should be fluent in writing simple programs.

The course is divided into 10 units 
(the given numbers of lectures are approximate).

Unit 1 : Introduction (2 lectures)
  1.1.  High level languages
  1.2.  Compilation versus interpretation
  1.3.  A brief history of C++
  1.4.  A minimal C++ program
  1.5.  Creating, compiling and running your program
  1.5.1.  Creating the program
  1.5.2.  Compilation
  1.5.3.  Running the program
  1.6.  The Ceilidh system
  1.7.  General

Unit 2 : Elementary programming (2 lectures)
  2.1.  A simple program
  2.2.  Output from the program
  2.3.  Constants and variables
  2.4.  Basic types
  2.5.  Denotations
  2.6.  Comments
  2.7.  Program layout
  2.8.  Input to the program
  2.9.  Operators in more detail
  2.9.1.  Arithmetic operators
  2.9.2.  Comparison operators
  2.9.3.  Logical operators
  2.9.4.  Incremental operators
  2.9.5.  Assignment
  2.9.6.  The comma operator
  2.9.7.  Operator precedence

Unit 3 : Conditionals (1 lecture)
  3.1.  If statements
  3.1.1.  Simple "if" statements
  3.1.2.  "If ... else ..." statements
  3.1.3.  Further alternatives
  3.1.4.  Possible conditions (logical expressions)
  3.1.5.  The comma operator
  3.1.6.  Nesting "if" statements
  3.1.7.  Ambiguity
  3.2.  Switch statements
  3.2.1.  Switch example
  3.2.2.  Character switch example
  3.2.3.  Notes

Unit 4 : Loops (3 lectures)
  4.1.  "while" loops
  4.2.  "do" loops
  4.3.  "for" loops
  4.4.  General points on loops
  4.4.1.  Nesting of loops
  4.4.2.  The "break" statement
  4.4.3.  The "continue" statement
  4.4.4.  Example of "break" and "continue"
  4.4.5.  Comments
  4.4.6.  Curly braces
  4.4.7.  Empty loop bodies
  4.5.  Other general loop examples
  4.5.1.  Sum, minimum, and maximum of data
  4.5.2.  Sum of squares
  4.5.3.  Decreasing powers of 2
  4.5.4.  Read a sentence of text
  4.5.5.  Increasing and decreasing integers

Unit 5 : Functions (3 lectures)
  5.1.  Motivation: the need for functions.
  5.2.  A simple example of a function
  5.3.  Declaration versus definition
  5.3.1.  The function declaration
  5.3.2.  The function definition
  5.4.  Returned types
  5.5.  Parameter types
  5.6.  Default parameters
  5.7.  Function overloading
  5.8.  Program structure
  5.9.  Local variables
  5.10.  Parameters called by value
  5.11.  Jargon reminder
  5.12.  A complete example
  5.13.  Examples
  5.13.1.  Circle radii and areas
  5.13.2.  Summation
  5.13.3.  The OK function

Unit 6 : Miscellany (1 lecture)
  6.1.  Program layout
  6.2.  Basic types
  6.3.  Lazy programming
  6.4.  Lazy operators
  6.5.  Bit-wise operators (keenies only)
  6.6.  Declarations
  6.7.  Goto's and assignments considered harmful
  6.8.  Error output
  6.9.  Strings
  6.10.  The "system" function
  6.11.  File inclusion
  6.12.  Formatted output

Unit 7 : Arrays and structures (6 lectures)
  7.1.  Arrays
  7.1.1.  Examples of the requirement for arrays
  7.1.2.  Declaration of arrays
  7.1.3.  Calls of array elements
  7.1.4.  Other array examples
  7.1.5.  Array elements and indexes
  7.1.6.  Searching for words
  7.1.7.  Initialised arrays
  7.1.8.  Two-dimensional arrays
  7.1.9.  Higher dimensional arrays
  7.2.  More array examples
  7.2.1.  Reflect lines
  7.2.2.  Arrays as function parameters
  7.3.  Structures
  7.3.1.  Examples of the requirement for structures
  7.3.2.  Declarations of structure types
  7.3.3.  Declaration of structure objects
  7.3.4.  Accessing elements of a structure
  7.3.5.  Initialising structures
  7.3.6.  Bit-fields in structures (keenies only)
  7.3.7.  The use of arrays of structures

Unit 8 : File input/output (1 lecture)
  8.1.  Introduction
  8.2.  The basics of file access
  8.3.  Files in C++
  8.4.  The use of files in general

Unit 9: Miscellany 2 (1 lecture)
  9.1.  Reading characters
  9.2.  Arrays of strings

Unit 10: Pointers (Not taught here)
  10.1.  Simple pointers
  10.1.1.  Pointers and arrays
  10.1.2.  Pointers for loops
  10.1.3.  Priorities
  10.2.  Double pointers (pointers to pointers)