Prerequisite courses: None, though Operating Systems would be helpful.
Aims
The aims of this course are to provide a solid introduction to programming
in C and C++ and to provide an overview of the principles and constraints
that affect the way in which the C and C++ programming languages have been
designed and are used.
Lectures
Introduction to the C language. Background and goals of C.
Types and variables. Expressions and statements. Functions.
Multiple compilation units. [1 lecture]
Further C concepts. Preprocessor. Pointers and pointer
arithmetic. Data structures. Dynamic memory management. Examples.
[2 lectures]
Introduction to C++. Goals of C++. Differences between C
and C++. References versus pointers. Overloading functions.
[1 lecture]
Objects in C++. Classes and structs. Operator overloading.
Virtual functions. Multiple inheritance. Virtual base classes.
Examples. [2 lectures]
Further C++ concepts. Exceptions. Templates and
meta-programming. STL generic programming. Examples. [2 lectures]
Objectives
At the end of the course students should
be able to read and write C and C++ programs
understand the interaction between C and C++ programs and the
host operating system
be familiar with the structure of C and C++ program execution in
machine memory
understand the object-oriented paradigm presented by C++
be able to make effective use of templates and meta-programming
techniques as used in the STL
understand the potential dangers of writing programs in C and C++
Recommended reading
* Eckel, B. (2000). Thinking in C++, Vol. 1: Introduction to Standard C++. Prentice Hall (2nd ed.). Also available at
http://www.mindview.net/Books/TICPP/ThinkingInCPP2e.html
Kernighan, B.W. & Ritchie, D.M. (1988). The C programming language. Prentice Hall (2nd ed.).
Stroustrup, B. (1994). The design and evolution of C++. Addison-Wesley.
Lippman, S.B. (1996). Inside the C++ object model. Addison-Wesley.
