CS113: C Programming

• For assignment #3: the encrypt function should also take an ecryption table as an argument:

  char *encrypt(char *s, struct table e_table);

• Assignment #3 has been handed out. It is due Monday Oct. 27.

Instructor:

This 1 credit S/U course provides a brief introduction to the C programming language for students with programming experience at the CS100 level. The course is not appropriate for students who already know C or have taken other CS courses in which they have programmed in C before.

The course is 4 weeks long and runs from the 29th of September to the 24th of October. Lectures are held Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 12:20 in Phillips 101.

Below is a sketch of the course content, although all details are subject to change:

• Introduction to C(4 lectures)
  • Basic program structure
  • Simple data types: integers, floats, characters
  • Control flow: if statements, for and while loops, switch
  • Functions
  • The Preprocessor
• Pointers and Complex Datastructures(4 lectures)
  • Pointers: *#?&@$%!
  • More about function arguments
  • Arrays
  • Structures
• Standard libraries(1/2 lecture)
  • I/O library: reading and writing to files
  • Strings and simple string functions
• Larger Programs(1/2 lecture)
  • C modules: .h and .c files

• Required: The C Programming Language, 2nd ed. Kernighan and Ritchie. Prentice-Hall, 1988.
  • I strongly recommend this book. Every serious C programmer has access to Kernighan and Ritchie whether they work in academia or in industry. If you ever do any C programming after this course (and I certainly hope you do), you will want this book.
• Recommended: C by Dissection, 3rd ed. Al Kelley and Ira Pohl. Addison-Wesley, 1996.
  • Kernighan and Ritchie is quintessential C reference book but it is quite brief in places. C by Dissection covers the topics in the course and many others in much greater detail. In particular, it has a section "Common Programmer Errors" at the end of each chapter which is very useful for beginning C programmers.

Newsgroup

The course has newsgroup which you may use to ask your peers questions about the material covered in class or about the assignments. I will also be reading the newsgroup periodically and may inject my own comments. The newsgroup is:

cornell.class.cs113

Computing Resources

In order to do your homework, you will need to use a C compiler. While you can use any C compiler you choose, I recommend Metrowerks Codewarrior because the consultants and myself familiar with it. CodeWarrior can be found on any of the Macs or PCs in any of the CIT labs (such as Upson B7, MVR G83, Sibley B8). Hal Perkins and David Pierce created a pair of introductory handouts which I have modified that will help you get used to the CodeWarrior programming environment:

There will be two or three short assignments and one slightly longer assignment for this course. I plan to grade assignments out of 3:

• 3 - Perfect. No errors. Great Job!
• 2 - Good Work. Some errors. All questions attempted.
• 1 - Some questions omitted. Significant errors revealing a lack of understanding.
• 0 - Insufficient effort.

Students who complete all assignments with a 2 or better are guaranteed an S in this course. Students who fail to hand in one or more assignments or do not receive a two or better in the assignments that they hand in will be examined on a case by case basis. Students must complete the final longer assignment in order to receive an S.

Late Policy: All homework will be handed in during class on the day it is due. If you cannot make class on that day, ask a friend to hand in your assignment or hand it in to my office before class. Late assignments will not be accepted except in exceptional circumstances(perhaps a minor miracle will suffice).