CS105: Introduction to Computer Programming: C++

When:	Wednesdays 3:00-4:30pm, January 21st to April 1st
Where:	CBA 4.328
Instructor:	Nate Kohl
Email:	nate@cs.utexas.edu
Office Hours:	Mondays and Tuesdays 4:00-5:00pm, in the new ENS Intel lab (located in the basement of the ENS building, right across from the elevators, room 1), or by appointment
Prerequisites:	CS307, CS313E, or EE322C with a grade of at least C, or permission of the instructor
Books: (recommended, not required)	If you're just starting out: C++: How to Program, 6th Edition If you're a grandmaster whiz-bang: Effective C++, 3rd Edition
Mailing List:	Class Mailing List

Course Announcements

Subscribe to the class mailing list and sign up for a CS account if you don't have one already.

Schedule

This is an ambitious schedule -- we may have to shift some content around as the semester progresses.

Date	Book Chapter(s)	Material	Assignments
1/21	1, 4	Introduction, history of C++, basic syntax
1/28	5, 6	Data types, bit-twiddling, casting	Assignment #1: How Big is Big?
2/4	3, 9, 10	Defining types	Assignment #2: Defining BigInt
2/11	7, 8	References, const and a few pointers	Assignment #3: On Being Correct
2/18	15, 17, 18	Stream I/O	Assignment #4: File I/O
2/25	11	Overloading, friends	Assignment #5: Hello, operator
3/4	8	Pointers	Assignment #6: Adding (and displaying)
3/11	10	Memory management	Assignment #7: Memory Management
3/18	Spring Break
3/25	14, 22	Templates and the STL	Assignment #8: Super Freqs
4/1	12, 13	Inheritance & Polymorphism

Resources

Useful links:
- A list of the CS department's public linux machines
- Instructions on how to use the turnin program
- Some brief instructions on how to SSH to a department Linux machine
- A few tutorials on simple Linux commands
- Programming on a Linux box:
  - Emacs and VIM are two of the most popular text editors for Linux.
  - Kate is useful little text editor for Linux.
  - For bare-bones text editing, nano is kind of like Notepad for Linux.
- Programming on a Windows box:
  - cygwin gives you a Linux-like shell for your Windows machine.
  - Eclipse is a free IDE that runs under Windows.
  - Microsoft Visual Studio Express is a free version of Microsoft's popular Visual Studio IDE.
  - RealVNC is one of several free VNC clients that allow you to control a CS department linux machine remotely. You'll need to start a vncserver on a department linux machine and then use this client to connect to that machine from your windows host.
Please subscribe to the class mailing list as soon as possible. Important announcements and helpful hints will be posted there.
The intro book, C++: How to Program, 6th Edition: Although it's not required, the book is an excellent resource to have around. It covers a wide range of C++ in an easy-to-read manner and is suitable for a wide range of programmers.
The advanced book, Effective C++: if you're more experienced, this is the book to get. It doesn't cover language or syntax, but it's the best reference for common C++ idioms. If you get into C++ in any depth beyond this intro course, you'll find yourself reaching for this book frequently.
This website: Lecture notes and major announcements will be posted to this website. You should still subscribe to the class mailing list, though, since most of the annoucements will be posted there.
The internet: There are quite a few C++ websites out there. If you encounter an error message that you don't understand, you can often Google for the text of the error and find others who ran into the same problem.
- Dinkumware's C++ Reference
- SGI's C++ Standard Template Library Reference
- cppreference.com C++ library and language reference
- cplusplus.com's library reference
- The C++ FAQ Lite, a good source for in-depth answers to complex C++ questions
- Fred Swartz's C++ Notes answer a variety of common C++ questions
- cplusplus.com's C++ tutorial

Course Overview

This purpose of this course is to provide some exposure to the C++ programming language. We'll attempt to cover basic syntax, defining classes, I/O, overloading, pointers, references, and arrays, memory management, templates and the Standard Template Library (STL), inheritance and polymorphism...and anything else that we have time for.

Prerequisites

The course prerequisites are listed above. If you're unsure if you've programmed enough to take this course, talk to me after class or via email.

Grading

The only work that you'll have to do for this course consists of 8 assignments. Each assignment will be worth 1/8th of your grade. There will be no tests or quizzes.

You should work on the assignments by yourself, i.e. no pair programming.

Your assignments will be evaluated on correctness, clarity, and style.

Late Work Policy

Assignments are typically due on Tuesday nights before class at 11:59pm. If you miss this midnight deadline, but can still get something turned in before class at 3:00pm the next day (Wednesday), you can get half credit. Anything turned in after 3:00pm on Wednesday will receive no credit.

Cheating

Don't copy code. It's okay to talk about coding and the concepts involving coding, but don't blindly use someone else's code.

It's impossible to completely define what constitutes cheating, so let's just say that if you wouldn't feel comfortable telling me what you're doing, don't do it.

Think about it -- it's a 1-credit class. Any cheating that I catch I have to report to the university. It's totally not worth it for a tiny little class like this. If you find yourself in a bind, email me and we'll work something out.

Acknowledgements

Parts of this course were adapted from or inspired by the CS105 courses of Kurt Dresner, Maria Jump, Shimon Whiteson, and Greg Kuhlmann.