Course Description:

This  course  is the second course in a sequence of courses covering programming using the C++ programming language.  Students are expected to have already taken and passed CMIS 102, the first course introducing structured programming techniques.  We will continue learning about structured programming using C++ and will  explore the world of object-oriented programming.  Object-oriented concepts such as classes and encapsulation will be looked at and implemented in programming assignments.

Some of the topics discussed in the course include the following: 

• algorithm design using functional decomposition

• algorithm design using object-oriented principles

• value and void functions

• scope and lifetime of identifiers such as variables and functions

• function parameters

• user-defined data types

• structured data types

• data abstraction

• classes

• one and two-dimensional arrays

• lists

• sorting and searching

• object-oriented software development

• pointers

• linked lists

• templates and exceptions

Textbook:

The following textbook is required for the course:

 

Programming and Problem Solving with C++ 

 

Third Edition

 

by Nell Dale, Chip Weems, and Mark Headington

References:

There are innumerable Internet sources available on programming and the C++ language.  We'll explore many of them.

There are many excellent computer technology news sources and a compiled list will be presented in the classroom.

Objectives:

        After successful completion of the course, a student should be able to:

• understand the basics of algorithms,
• understand the importance of algorithmic problem solving,
• understand the significance of developing an algorithm before coding a solution,
• understand the basic principles of object-oriented programming,
• apply the functional decomposition methodology to solve a simple problem,
• represent the fundamental control structures in programming using pseudocode and C++,
• understand  the basic language statements of the C++ language,
• write a program that uses functions, and
• distinguish between value and reference parameters.

See the first page of each chapter in our text for more goals.

Grades:

        Grades for this course will be based on:
 

        and will be assigned as follows:
 

Study Groups:

Each student will be assigned to a study group consisting of two to four students.  The group assignments will be made by the instructor.  Each student is expected to participate in joint group projects.  

Programming Projects:

A number of programming projects will be assigned.   You will have about two weeks to complete each project.  Students should be prepared to spend a substantial amount of time outside of class preparing assignments (programs) and studying for the quizzes and tests.

Homework

Weekly homework assignments will include the following:   Internet readings, posting solutions to exercises assigned from the textbook, and so on.

Quizzes:

Short, online quizzes covering the terms and concepts of each chapter will be given.  You can expect one for each chapter.

Software Needed:

Since may have already taken CMIS 102  you are probably already using a compiler.

There are free C++ compilers available over the Internet.   A free compiler that has proven quite popular with students is the Bloodshed Dev-C++ 4.0 compiler.  You can download it from the following site: 

http://www.bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html

You'll need to download version 4.0 and then the upgrade 4.01.  There's a beta version of 5.0 available at this site.  Maybe we can experiment with that.  I have found that students prefer the Bloodshed compiler because it is so easy to learn and use.  I highly recommend you give it a try.

You can find other sites that offer the compiler on the Internet by doing a search on its name.   I highly recommend this compiler.

Exams:

Two exams are scheduled:  a midterm and a final. The midterm exam will cover the material that we cover in the first half of the term and the final exam will cover the material since the midterm.

The midterm exam and final exam will consist of a variety of questions related to programming.  While the  quizzes will test for understanding of terminology and concepts, the exams will assess your programming knowledge.  The problems on the two exams will be very similar to the problems found in the exercises at the end of each chapter:  Quick Check, Exam Preparation Exercises, Programming Warm-Up Exercises.  (Hint!)

The midterm exam must be taken at your local education center.  It is a proctored exam.  We will coordinate the details of taking it early on.

The final exam will be conducted online and will be  an "open-book, take-home" exam.  The exam will be posted online during the last week of the term and you will have 48 hours to complete it.

Participation:

WebTycho participation involves responding to conference topics and postings by other students in a timely fashion.  How often should you post?  It can vary.  Each conference topic requires a well-thought-out or well-researched posting (your response).  You should also post thoughtful responses each week to other students postings.  You'll have plenty of opportunity to do this.  Don't go overboard with postings.  That would be equivalent to dominating a discussion in a traditional classroom.  

HTML Documents:

Many of your postings in the classroom must be an HTML document.  These are easily produced using programs like MS FrontPage, Netscape Composer, and Dreamweaver.  There are many others.  Netscape Composer is free when you download Netscape 7.  Dreamweaver can be downloaded for a trial period.  All three of these programs offer an easy to use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface and there's minimal need to manipulate HTML tags.  Get your copy of one of these programs as soon as possible and start learning how to use it.  For a tutorial on the basics of HTML visit my faculty web page:  faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~kpainter.

Tentative Schedule:
 
 

Week	Topic		Reading Assignment
1 27 January - 2 February	Introductions
2 3 - 9 February	Introduction to Programming:  Review of Chapters 1 - 3     Introduction to Programming		Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3   Module 1
3 10 - 16 February	Introduction to Flow Control:  Review of Chapters 4 - 6     Introduction to Flow Control		Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6   Module 2
4 17 - 23 February	Functions   Scope, Lifetime, and More on Functions Flow Control and Program Structure		Chapter 7   Chapter 8     Module 3
5 24 February - 2 March	Additional Control Structures Flow Control and Program Structure		Chapter 9 Module 3
6 3 - 9 March	Simple Data Types:  Built-In and User-Defined   Data Management		Chapter 10     Module 4
7   10 - 14 March	Midterm Exam (Chapters 1 - 10) (proctored locally)
Break 15 -28 March
8  31 March - 6 April	Structured Types, Data Abstraction, and Classes   Data Abstraction		Chapter 11     Module 5
9 7 - 13 April	Arrays Data Management		Chapter 12 Module 4
10 14 - 20 April	Array-Based Lists		Chapter 13
11 21 - 27 April	Object-Oriented Software Development		Chapter 14
12 28 April - 4 May	Pointers, Dynamic Data, and Reference Types   Enrichment:  Pointers		Chapter 15     Module 6
13 5 - 11 May	Linked Structures   Templates and Exceptions		Chapter 16   Chapter 17
14 12 - 18 May	Final Exam (Chapters 11 - 17) (take-home online)

Biography of Instructor:

Kerry Painter earned his BA degree in Chinese-Vietnamese Language Studies from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Before attending the University of Hawaii, he studied electrical engineering at Clemson University, attended the 47-week North Vietnamese language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and worked as a linguist for the Army Security Agency in both Vietnam and Korea.

For six years after college graduation he worked in radio news as a reporter, writer, announcer, news director, and manager in Hawaii, Texas, and Delaware.  He earned an MS degree in Technical and Science Communication and an MS in Computer Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Kerry did doctoral studies at Drexel and has taught a variety of computer science and mathematics courses at Drexel University, Penn State University,  Elizabethtown College, and Swarthmore College, all in Pennsylvania.  He joined The University of Maryland European Division in January 1989 and has taught  at SHAPE in Belgium, Soesterberg Air Base and AFCENT in Holland, Aviano Air Base in Italy, and at several German locations:  Augsburg, Bad Kreuznach,  Bamberg, Baumholder,  Berlin,  Geilenkirchen, Giebelstadt, Hahn, Hanau, Heidelberg, Kapaun (Vogelweh - Kaiserslautern), Kitzingen, Mannheim, Ramstein, Schweinfurt, Spangdahlem,  Wiesbaden, and Wuerzburg.

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