CSIS 45 C++ Programming I,

     Summer session June 2008

 

Catalog Description:

 

An introduction to the concepts and methods of computer programming using C++. Students will be introduced to procedural and object-oriented programming design methodology. Topics covered include variable and constant declarations, selection statements, repetition, functions and recursion, arrays, strings, pointers, and an introduction to classes and objects. This course will prepare students for the Programming II class. This course has the option of a letter grade or credit/no credit. Units: 4     Hours: 3 Lecture, 3 Laboratory

Advisory: CSIS 10 or equivalent. Math 205 (Elementary Algebra). If you have no programming experience, you REALLY need to take CSIS 10 first.

End of catalog description.

 

Assignment sheet: If you sign up for the class and tell me, I can e-mail you the assignment sheet for the class so you can start early, but I will not send you the assignment sheet until you sign up for the class. All these class Green Sheets are stored at my campus web site.

 

Instructor: Dennie Van Tassel

Phone: 782-0863 (e-mail works better for contacting me).

E-mail: dvantassel@gavilan.edu

Office Hours: I will be at the Morgan Hill site on some evenings. The lab is available for you to work during that time. I will post the hours later.

 

Campus web address: http://www.gavilan.edu

The web site is good place to look for a wide variety of information, such as college catalog, course description, phone numbers, etc.

 

Class Hours: The summer June 2008 class is an online only course. If you want/need a normal lecture class, wait until the regular semester. I will be at the Morgan Hill site on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday evenings during the 6-week Summer session. You can come in and work and get help during those times.

Office Hours: There are computers available at all 3 sites that you can use for doing homework. But for this Summer intersession class you probably need access to a computer at home with the software.

 

Instructor class description:

This class is a beginning level programming class. We will work through much of the assigned textbook. You will need the textbook the first meeting of class.

 

Student Responsibilities: If you are taking the lecture version come to class. Read the text. You need to spend several hours EVERY week on this class. If you disappear AND stop working on this class, I may drop you.

 

Texts & Materials: A First Book of C++ Second Edition, by Gary Bronson, Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, ISBN 0-534-36801-8. The book is available for very cheap from http://www.amazon.com or http://www.half.com. You cannot take this class with out the required textbook since I give you assignments out of the book. You also need a disk to save your work each week, especially if you plan to work at home and in the lab. Since the programs that you save are rather large you will probably need a flash drive. There is a newer third edition of the book available, but the 2nd edition is much cheaper if you buy it on the Web. The third edition is A First Book of C++, From Here to There, Third Edition Course Technology, 0-534-49281-9. You can use that version but it will be more expensive, and the page numbers on the assignment page may be off by a few pages.

You can save yourself a lot of wasted time and learn a lot more if you read the textbook. Read the first 2 chapters of the book the first week. The first programming assignment from the textbook is to type in the program on page 16 and get it working. Please put comments in all your programs with the page number of the program/assignment and your name.

This is a class for beginners, but you will need some basic skills in text editing and operating system use such as opening and saving files. You can probably learn most of the windows basics in the class.

Free software downloads: The web site: http://www.bloodshed.net/ has a long list of software you can download. Some of this software can be used to do your work at home for our classes. I can help you download the software.

Assignment: Using the computer type up a short note about you. Please indicate your name, e-mail address, computer experience, previous programming background, and why you are taking the class. This is the first assignment in the online class. Also indicate what grade you plan to get in the class and how you will obtain this grade. Please do this assignment before leaving the first class.

You do not need a computer at home to do this class, but you can do homework outside class on other computers. The computer labs on the main Gilroy campus do not have the software for this class.

Attend class: Do not get behind in the class. The class is accumulative. What you learn this week will be used to do the work next week. If you miss classes you will soon be lost. Plan to miss no classes. Bring your textbook and all handouts to class each meeting.

Course Learning Outcomes

The student will create, execute, and test C++ programs using calculations and decision statements. The student will create, execute, and test C++ programs using loops, arrays, and pointers. The student will create, execute, and test C++ programs using functions. The student will create execute, and test C++ programs using structures, classes, and objects. The student will create, execute, and test C++ programs using standard input/output, character I/O and file I/O. The student will evaluate and select the best programming method to solve problems.

Grading: This course has Credit/No Credit Option. You will normally get a grade in the class, but if you fill out a Credit/No Credit petition before 1/3 of the class has passed, you can take the class for credit/no credit. Petitions are available at the office or registrar. Please tell me if you do request a Credit/No Credit Option. In order to get a Credit, you need to earn at least a C grade.

If you want or need a good grade because you want to transfer to a 4-year school, are on academic probation, want a scholarship, or just want good grades do the work for a good grade. Don’t bother telling me you need a good grade the last week if you have not done the work for a good grade.

Incompletes: I seldom give incompletes and never give them just because you have not done the work. Almost no one ever finishes an Incomplete. Occasionally, people that have been doing the class work have severe family or personal problems and I do give them an Incomplete.

Drops: If you stop attending class, you must fill out a class drop form or you will get an F grade in the class. This does not do you, me, or the school any good. So if you stop taking the class, drop it at the A&R office.

Special needs: If you have special needs such as hearing problem, visual problems, or other needs, please tell me after class and I will try to assist you.

After all that, this is a fun class. You will learn a lot that will help you in your other classes and help you obtain useful job skills.

I am interested in suggestions about assignments, lectures, and the material covered.

 

Necessary math skills: If you are having trouble doing the math needed to solve the problems in the programming exercises, then you should take Math 233, Intermediate Algebra. We have noticed that one common reason students do not succeed in programming classes is the lack of math skills need to write programming algorithms. At many 4-year colleges, potential Computer Science (CS) students must take one year of calculus before becoming a CS major.

 

Next classes to take: The next classes you might take are CSIS 46 C++ Programming II and CSIS 54 Perl Programming. CSIS 84 JavaScript programming is used to program web pages and the language syntax is very similar to C++, so it should be easy for you. We also have CSIS 18 UNIX/C++ Programming, which covers C/C++ programming using UNIX systems.

 

Address of this page: http://hhh.gavilan.edu/dvantassel/csis45/csis45.html
Please feel free to send us your comments and questions.
Send e-mail messages to Dennie Van Tassel at dvantassel@gavilan.edu
Last revised on June 1, 2008.