C++ Programming Self-Study Course

C++ Programming will provide the student with the structured programming concepts used in C++, and the sckills required to create and instantiate classes, use dynamic memory allocation, and use polymorphism and overloading. The student will also gain the skills required to create C++ programs that use files, and give the student an appreciation of advanced concepts.
Audience
Course Topics Structured Programming

• Identify the steps involved in creating a C++ program and itemize the elements of a typical program
• Identify integer and character datatypes
• Use arrays and pointers
• Identify structures and unions
• Give a brief account of the if/else selection statement
• Describe the structure of a switch statement
• Identify loop types and outline how to construct a loop
• Describe how C++ functions are constructed and implemented

Classes and Data Abstraction

• Define the concepts of encapsulation and data hiding
• Outline how classes can be defined and declared
• Recognize how member functions are defined in a class
• Outline how C++ uses the access control specifiers public, private, and protected
• Identify the scoping rules used in a C++ class
• Outline how constructor and destructor functions work in a C++ program
• Identify the uses of inheritance and derived classes
• Describe the difference between single inheritance and multiple inheritance, and identify the major programming considerations that concern multiple classes

Manipulating Objects

• Give a brief account of pointers
• Identify how arguments are passed to called functions in C++
• Outline how pointers are used to reference objects
• Outline how the new and delete keywords can be used to allocate memory dynamically
• Recognize a program that uses a dynamically created object and outline how to write a program using dynamically allocated memory
• Give an account of linked lists and fixed arrays and outline how pointers are used in creating and maintaining a linked list
• Outline how nodes can be added to the head of a linked list
• Identify methods of traversing and deleting a linked list

Overloading

• Define polymorphism and give an account of how it is implemented using virtual functions
• Demonstrate the use of polymorphism in an application
• Implement a simple program using polymorphism
• State the function of operator overloading and outline its implementation as either member or friend functions
• Outline the rules for implementing operator overloading
• Give an account of overloading unary and binary operators
• Identify the functions of casting operators and conversion constructors and outline how they are implemented
• Give an account of how function templates are used

Files and Streams

• Give a brief account of streams and devices
• Identify the classes used in stream and file processing
• Outline how formatting is carried out on I/O streams
• Outline the basic C++ program structure used in file processing
• Identify how data is transferred to and from a file
• Create a C++ program that takes in order details and writes them to a file
• Outline how to create a random access file
• Outline how to read from and write to a random access file

Programming Techniques

• Identify approaches to dealing with errors in C++
• Outline the use of try blocks, the throw keyword, and catch blocks for catching exceptions
• Create code for an exception handler
• Identify the actions of the C++ preprocessor
• Give an account of the use of directives for the conditional compilation of C++ programs
• Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of using inline functions
• Give an account of abstract classes in C++, virtual functions, and destructors
• Maximize program reusability

Course Objectives

• To provide the student with the skills required to create C++ programs that use files
• To give the student an appreciation of advanced concepts in C++ programming
• Final Exam on C++ programming will enable the learner to test their knowledge in a testing environment
• To provide the student with structured programming concepts used in C++
• To provide students with the skills required to create and instantiate classes
• To provide the student with the skills required to use dynamic memory allocation in C++
• To provide the student with the skills required to use polymorphism and overloading