An Introduction to the Imperative Part of C++

Rob Miller, September 1996

amended by David Clark, September 1997

amended by Bob White, September 1998

amended by William Knottenbelt and Sophia Drossopoulou,
September 1999 - September 2007



Go straight to contents of:

Lecture 1, Lecture 2, Lecture 3, Lecture 4,
Lecture 5, Lecture 6, Lecture 7, Lecture 8


 

These lecture notes are designed for an 8 day intensive introductory course on programming, using the imperative core of C++, and given to MSc (Computing Science) students at Imperial College at the very beginning of their course. The students attend a 1-hour lecture at the beginning of each of the eight days, followed by 7 hours of lab/tutorial work, using the GNU g++ compiler on PCs running Linux. Since the course is intended for graduates from disciplines other than Computer Science, very little previous programming experience is assumed.
 

Program Listings in the Notes

All the example programs referred to in the lecture notes and all the example answers to the exercises have been written in ANSI standard C++, and have been tested using the GNU g++ compiler.
 

Recommended Books

The books recommended to accompany this course are:
  • Walter Savitch, Problem Solving with C++, 6th Edition, Addison Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 2006. (A comprehensive introductory text on programming, C++ and object-oriented programming.)
     
  • Bjarne Stroustrup, The C++ Programming Language (Special Edition), Addison Wesley Publishing Company Inc., 3rd Edition, 2000. (The "classic" reference book on C++ written by the inventor of the language. A good investment for those intending to do a considerable amount of C++ programming.)
     

    • Use of These Notes

    Please feel free to use, edit and re-distribute these notes as you wish. It would be appreciated, however, if you could ensure that all references to the original author (i.e. Rob Miller) within both the text and the .html file names are preserved.
     

    William Knottenbelt and Sophia Drossopoulou, Imperial College London, 30th September 2007

    Course Structure

    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 1: Introducing C++

    1.1 Some Remarks about Programming

    1.2 The Origins of C++

    1.3 ANSI C++

    1.4 The C++ Programming Environment in Linux

    1.5 An Example C++ Program

    1.6 Very Simple Input, Output and Assignment

    1.7 Simple Flow of Control

    1.8 Preliminary Remarks about Program Style

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 2: Variables, Types and Expressions

    2.1 Identifiers

    2.2 Data Types

    Integers

    Real numbers

    Type Casting

    Characters

    Strings

    User Defined Data Types

    2.3 Some Tips on Formatting Real Number Output

    2.4 Declarations, Constants and Enumerations

    Enumerations

    Where to put Constant and Variable Declarations

    2.5 Assignments and Expressions

    Shorthand Arithmetic Assignment Statements

    Boolean Expressions and Operators

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 3: Functions and Procedural Abstraction

    3.1 The Need for Sub-programs

    3.2 User-defined Functions

    3.3 Value and Reference Parameters

    Functions which use Value Parameters are Safe

    Reference Parameters

    3.4 Polymorphism and Overloading

    3.5 Procedural Abstraction and Good Programming Style

    3.6 Splitting Programs into Different Files

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 4: Files and Streams

    4.1. Why Use Files?

    4.2 Streams

    Creating Streams

    Connecting and Disconnecting Streams to Files

    4.3 Checking for Failure with File Commands

    4.4 Character Input and Output

    Input using "get()"

    Output using "put()"

    The "putback()" Function

    4.5 Checking for the End of an Input File

    4.6 Streams as Arguments in Functions

    4.7 Input and Output Using ">>" and "<<"

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 5: Branch and Loop Statements

    5.1 Boolean Values, Expressions and Functions

    Note: The Identifiers "true" and "false" in C++

    5.2 "For", "While" and "Do ... While" Loops

    5.3 Multiple Selection and Switch Statements

    5.4 Blocks and Scoping

    5.5 A Remark about Nested Loop Statements

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 6: Arrays and Strings

    6.1 The Basic Idea and Notation

    Declaring an array

    Assignment Statements and Expressions with Array Elements

    6.2 Arrays as Parameters in Functions

    6.3 Sorting Arrays

    6.4 Two-dimensional Arrays

    6.5 Strings

    The Sentinel String Character '\0'

    String Variable Declarations and Assignments

    Some Predefined String Functions

    String Input using "getline()"

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 7: Pointers

    7.1 Introducing Pointers

    Declaring Pointers

    Assignments with Pointers Using the Operators "*" and "&"

    The "new" and "delete" operators, and the constant "NULL"

    7.2 Array Variables and Pointer Arithmetic

    7.3 Dynamic Arrays

    7.4 Automatic and Dynamic Variables

    7.5 Linked Lists

    The "." and "->" Operators

    Creating a Linked List

    Printing a Linked List

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Lecture 8: Recursion

    8.1 The Basic Idea

    8.2 A Simple Example

    8.3 The Mechanics of a Recursive Call

    8.4 Three More Examples

    8.5 Recursion and Iteration

    8.6 Recursive Data Structures

    8.7 Quick Sort - A Recursive Procedure for Sorting

    Exercises
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

    Appendix 1 - Guide to emacs and g++


    Appendix 2 - Debugging

    A.2.1 General Tips on Debugging

    The "assert" Function

    Stubs and Drivers

    Some Common Errors to Look Out For

    Debugging Very Bad Programs

    A.2.2 The GNU debugger gdb
    Contents of Lecture: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8