COMS-171 Introduction to C++

Introduction

• Who Should Read This Course?
• Should I Learn C First?
• Why Should I Learn C++?
• What If I Don’t Want This Course?
• Conventions Used in This Course

Hour 1: Writing Your First Program

• Using C++
• Compiling and Linking the Source Code
• Creating Your First Program
• Summary

Hour 2: Organizing the Parts of a Program

• Reasons to Use C++
• The Parts of a Program
• Comments
• Functions
• Summary

Hour 3: Creating Variables and Constants

• What Is a Variable?
• Defining a Variable
• Assigning Values to Variables
• Using Type Definitions
• Constants
• Auto-Typed Variables
• Summary

Hour 4: Using Expressions, Statements, and Operators

• Statements
• Expressions
• Operators
• If-Else Conditional Statements
• Logical Operators
• Tricky Expression Values
• Summary

Hour 5: Calling Functions

• What Is a Function?
• Declaring and Defining Functions
• Using Variables with Functions
• Function Parameters
• Returning Values from Functions
• Default Function Parameters
• Overloading Functions
• Auto-Typed Return Values
• Summary

Hour 6: Controlling the Flow of a Program

• Looping
• while Loops
• do-while Loops
• for Loops
• switch Statements
• Summary

Hour 7: Storing Information in Arrays and Strings

• What Is an Array?
• Writing Past the End of Arrays
• Initializing Arrays
• Multidimensional Arrays
• Character Arrays
• Copying Strings
• Reading Arrays with Foreach Loops
• Summary

Hour 8: Creating Basic Classes

• What Is a Type?
• Creating New Types
• Classes and Members
• Accessing Class Members
• Private Versus Public Access
• Implementing Member Functions
• Creating and Deleting Objects
• Summary

Hour 9: Moving into Advanced Classes

• const Member Functions
• Interface Versus Implementation
• Organizing Class Declarations and Function Definitions
• Inline Implementation
• Classes with Other Classes as Member Data
• Summary

Hour 10: Creating Pointers

• Understanding Pointers and Their Usage
• The Stack and the Heap
• Null Pointer Constant
• Summary

Hour 11: Developing Advanced Pointers

• Creating Objects on the Heap
• Deleting Objects
• Accessing Data Members Using Pointers
• Member Data on the Heap
• The this Pointer
• Stray or Dangling Pointers
• const Pointers
• const Pointers and const Member Functions
• Summary

Hour 12: Creating References

• What is a Reference?
• Creating a Reference
• Using the Address of Operator on References
• What Can Be Referenced?
• Null Pointers and Null References
• Passing Function Arguments by Reference
• Understanding Function Headers and Prototypes
• Returning Multiple Values
• Summary

Hour 13: Developing Advanced References and Pointers

• Passing by Reference for Efficiency
• Passing a const Pointer
• References as an Alternative to Pointers
• When to Use References and When to Use Pointers
• References to Objects Not in Scope
• Returning a Reference to an Object on the Heap
• Pointer, Pointer, Who Has the Pointer?
• Summary

Appendix A: Binary and Hexadecimal

• Other Bases
• Around the Bases
• Hexadecimal

Appendix B: Using the MinGW C++ Compiler on Windows

• Downloading MinGW-w64
• Setting the Path Environment Variable
• Testing Your Installation

Appendix C: Project