2 Study Guides

Near the end of the Fall 2023 Semester… a student asked me for some in guidance with preparing for CS 330 for the next semester (i.e., the Spring 2024 Semester). The C++ review guide in this section is the result of that discussion (and a few iterations).

I have included Java and Python guides… since the same topics are a good start in any language.

2.1 C++ Guide

• main function
  • Write something along the lines of “Hello World!”
  • Declare, initialize, and output (to standard out, cout, with <<) the following variable types:
  • int
  • double
  • char
  • bool (boolean)
  • std::string
• Keyboard Input with cin
  • Prompt for user input (cout)
  • Read the data into a variable with the stream extraction operator (>>)
  • Print that data
• Functions
  • Call built-in functions and store the result
  • Write a non-value returning (void/None) function
  • Call (invoke) a custom function
  • Write a value returning function (e.g., int, double, char, or string)
• Basic Conditional Blocks
  • Write an if to check a condition
  • Write an if-else to check a condition
  • Write an if-else-if-else
• Basic Loops
  • Write a for loop to repeat something n times
  • Write a while loop that runs until some condition is met (e.g., until a user types “quit”)
• Separate modules (compilation units)
  • Move a custom function to a separate h/cpp file and invoke it from main
• File Input
  • Work with ifstream
• File Output
  • Work with ofstream
• Basic Structs
  • Write a Default Constructor
  • Write a Non-Default Constructor
  • Review the notion of public (both mechanically and conceptually)
• Basic Classes
  • Review private vs public vs protected
  • protected is covered in CS 330
  • Review member functions
• Arrays
  • Declare an array
  • Traverse an array
  • Output an array
• Intermediate Classes
  • Review operator overloading (e.g., ==, <, <<)
  • Review aggregation and composition

2.2 Java Guide

• main function
  • Write something along the lines of “Hello World!”
  • Declare, initialize, and output (to standard out, with System.out.println, and System.out.printf) the following variable types:
  • int
  • double
  • char
  • boolean
  • String
• Keyboard Input with BufferedReader (and/or Scanner)
  • Prompt for user input (System.out.print)
  • Read the data into a variable with the BufferedReader or Scanner (with appropriate conversion)
  • Print that data
• Functions
  • Call built-in functions and store the result
  • Write a non-value returning (void/None) function
  • Call (invoke) a custom function
  • Write a value returning function (e.g., int, double, char, or String)
• Basic Conditional Blocks
  • Write an if to check a condition
  • Write an if-else to check a condition
  • Write an if-else-if-else
• Basic Loops
  • Write a for loop to repeat something n times
  • Write a while loop that runs until some condition is met (e.g., until a user types “quit”)
• Separate modules (compilation units)
  • Move a custom function to a separate java file and invoke it from main
• File Input
  • Work with a FileReader wrapped in a BufferedReader
• File Output
  • Work with a FileWriter wrapped in a BufferedWriter
• Basic Classes
  • Write a Default Constructor
  • Write a Non-Default Constructor
  • Review the notion of public (both mechanically and conceptually)
  • Review private vs public vs protected
  • protected is covered in CS 330
  • Review member functions
• Arrays
  • Declare an array
  • Traverse an array
  • Output an array
• Intermediate Classes
  • Review (pseudo) operator overloading (e.g., equals, hashCode, toString)
  • Review aggregation and composition

2.3 Python Guide

• main function
  • Write something along the lines of “Hello World!”
  • Declare, initialize, and output (to standard out, with print and f-strings) the following variable types:
  • int
  • float
  • bool (boolean)
  • str
• Keyboard Input with input
  • Prompt for user input with input
  • Store the data into a variable after converting it to a float or int
  • Print that data
• Functions
  • Call built-in functions and store the result
  • Write a non-value returning (void/None) function
  • Call (invoke) a custom function
  • Write a value returning function (e.g., int, float, or str)
• Basic Conditional Blocks
  • Write an if to check a condition
  • Write an if-else to check a condition
  • Write an if-elif-else
• Basic Loops
  • Write a for loop to repeat something n times
  • Write a while loop that runs until some condition is met (e.g., until a user types “quit”)
• Separate modules (compilation units)
  • Move a custom function to a separate py file and invoke it from main
• File Input
  • Work with open(..., "r")
  • Use open(..., "r") with a Context Manager
• File Output
  • Work with open(..., "w")
  • Use open(..., "w") with a Context Manager
• Basic Classes
  • Write a Constructor
  • Review the notion of public (both mechanically and conceptually)
  • Review name mangling (its actually purpose) and how Python does not have a true public vs private mechanic
  • Review member functions
• Arrays list and (Possibly) np.array
  • Declare a list
  • Traverse a list
  • Output a list
• Intermediate Classes
  • Review operator overloading (e.g., __eq__, __lt__, __str__, __repr__)
  • Review aggregation and composition