CSC 221: Computer Programming I
Fall 2001

Test 2 Review

TEST 1 MATERIAL Overview & history: hardware vs. software, technology generations, ... C++ basics: program structure, input & output, variables, constants, ... Expressions & assignments: mathematical operators, library functions, ... User-defined functions, computational abstraction, calling sequence, ... Conditional execution: if/if-else/cascading if-else, boolean expressions, ... Libraries & objects: cctype library, ADT, C++ classes (e.g., Die class), ... Conditional looping while loops controlled by boolean expressions danger: infinite (black-hole) loops counters (init & increment) & sums (init and add) increment/decrement operators, arithmetic assignments for loops used for counter-driven applications equivalence to while loops Top-down design approach to designing solutions to complex problems break problem into main tasks, then divide each into subtasks, ... eventually, subtasks are simple enough to implement advantages: helps to manage complexity, focus on small, indep. tasks can focus on big picture (functions + data flow) before details parameter passing value parameters (default) allow for info to be passed into a function parameter is a local copy of the corresponding argument any changes within the function happen to the copy only reference parameters (via &) allow for info to be passed in and out parameter is a local alias for the argument (which must be a variable) any changes within the function happen simultaneously to the argument Arrays homogeneous collection of items, accessible via indexing advantages: can group related values under one name can traverse and systematically access all values via a loop can pass all values as one entity declaration: specify number of entries in brackets access: specify index in brackets (indices range from 0 to numEntries-1) index out-of-bounds errors arrays as parameters don't specify size in parameter type arrays are treated as references (pointers) to memory --> can't copy one array to another using assignment --> when pass by value, function can still change element values can declare parameter to be const in order to protect elements Review Questions