Dr. Jean-Claude Franchitti

New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies

Information Technologies Institute

This course is intended for students new to programming and gives an introduction to computer science concepts and techniques necessary for computer programming. General areas of computer science covered in this course are software development process, analysis and design methodologies, and programming languages. In addition to these general topics and to support the presentation, the course offers a gradual introduction to the C programming language. However this course does not provide the comprehensive coverage offered in C programming part I and II. The goal of the course is to provide students with the precise understanding of program analysis, design, and development, and an ability to write simple programs using the C language. Students enrolling in this class are not expected to have any previous knowledge of programming, but basic computer skills are excepted in order to handle the assignments.

• Understand how various machine architectures support programming activities.
• Understand software analysis and design methodologies.
• Understand the software development process.
• Provide familiarity with common data structures.
• Understand various practical algorithms.
• Develop simple programs using the C language.

The required textbook for the course is: Computer Science, An Overview (Fifth Edition), J Glenn Brookshear, Addison Wesley Longman, 1997, ISBN 0-8053-4632-5.

The following textbooks are recommended to support the homeworks and programming assignments throughout the course:

• Introduction to Programming Using the C Language, John Leyden.

• C, A Reference Manual, 4^th Edition, Harbison and Steele, Prentice Hall.

The course will consist of lectures, questions, and discussion. Readings and homeworks will be assigned at the end of each lecture. There will be four homeworks, four programming projects, and a take-home final examination. Students will be able to earn a total of 100 points in this course. Points will be allocated to the lectures and assignments on a percentage basis as indicated below. All assignments should be done individually. Students may discuss homeworks and projects with other students in a general way, but the solutions, or the design and coding of programs should be performed on an individual basis. The take–home final examination should be done individually. Copying will not be tolerated and violators will be punished, possibly by failing the course.

Points will be assigned as follows:

• Attendance 15% of final grade.
• Homework 25% of final grade.
• Projects 30% of final grade.

• Final 30% of final grade

Late homeworks will be accepted up to one week late with a 10 points penalty. No assignments will be accepted more than a week after the due date.

The following should appear at the top of every assignment submitted:

• Students name
• Students ID number
• Assignment number

• Date

In order to access the Academic Computing Facility (AFC), you must have a valid NYU ID card. Take your registration documents to the NYU Card Services Office at 7 East 12th Street (212) 998-1020. Show them the authorization and pay the nominal fee of $5.00 for the photo ID card. The office hours are Monday-Thursday 8:30-8:00 pm, Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm.

Instructor: Dr. Jean-Claude Franchitti

Course home page: http://www.nyu.edu/classes/jcf/x52.9239

Time: Mondays, 6:10 PM - 9:00 PM

Location: 33 Washington Place, room 714

Email beacon: x52_9239_003_sp99@forums.nyu.edu

Email: jcf@cs.nyu.edu

Office hours: after class, or by appointment

Office: (212) 943-4452

Mailbox: Info Tech Office at 48 Cooper Square

Session 1 – Introduction, Administration and Computer Architecture

• Review course administration and course structure
• Review course goals and syllabus
• Introduce computer architecture
• Understand data storage
• Review basic hardware components

• Read introduction sections 0.1 – 0.5
• Read chapter 1 sections 1.1 – 1.4, other sections optional
• Read chapter 2 sections 2.1 - 2.4, other sections optional

• Homework #1
(as per slides)

Session 2 – Program Execution and Data Manipulation

• Understand the Central Processing Unit (CPU), I/O, and external storage
• Understand machine language instruction sets
• Understand program execution at the CPU level

• Introduce efficient machine architecture

• Read chapter 3 sections 3.1 – 3.3, other sections optional

• Homework #2 - Solution 2

Session 3 – Operating Systems and Utilities

• Understand the role of operating systems and utilities
• Study the features and characteristics of operating systems
• Compare various PC operating systems
• Introduce advanced DOS features, batch programs
• Understand the C language edit/compile/link cycle

• Experiment with UNIX, Use the C compiler

• Read chapter 4 sections 4.1 – 4.5, 4.6 optional

• Homework #3 - Solution 3

Session 4 – Algorithms and DOS/Windows Basics

• Understand the definition and representation of algorithms
• Review the problem solving techniques to develop algorithms
• Understand iterative and recursive structures

• Review practical use of DOS and Windows features

• Read chapter 5 sections 5.1.-.5.3, other sections optional
• Read Leyden’s book (optional): chapters 1-4
• Homework #4 - Solution 4

Session 5 – Programming Languages: Variables, Data and Expressions

• Review the history and development of high – level languages
• Understand third and fourth generation programming languages
• Understand C language operators, expressions, and statements

• Understand usage of C data types

• Read chapter 6 sections 6.1 – 6.6
• Read Leyden’s book (optional): chapters 5-6

• Programming project #1

Session 6 – Software Engineering, Math Operations in C

• Introduce program design methodologies
• Review the software life cycle
• Use top – down design technique for programming
• Review software quality assurance and testing
• Review testing approaches and test plans
• Introduce the math operators in the C language

• Read C language handout
• Read Leyden’s book (optional): chapter 7
• Programming project #2

Session 7 – C Language Branching and Looping

• Understand the use of flow control in programming
• Use loop statements: FOR and WHILE
• Use branching statements: IF – ELSE and SWITCH
• Understand boolean logic for use in relational expressions

• Read chapter 7 sections 7.1 – 7.5, other sections optional
• Read Leyden’s book (optional): chapter 8
• Programming project #3

Session 8 – Data Structures and Arrays

• Understand the representation of data structures in programs
• Understand arrays in C
• Understand linked lists, insertion and deletion of a node
• Review stacks, queues, and trees
• Use array operations to implement a sort algorithm

• Read chapter 8 sections 8.1 – 8.5
• Read chapter 9 sections 9.1 – 9.3, other sections optional
• Read Leyden’s book (optional): chapters 9 – 10
• Programming project #4

Session 9 – File Structures

• Understand various types of file structures
• Study input/ output statements to files
• Use the C language to open and close files
• Understand database structures
• Review C (mathematical) functions

• Read chapters 10,11, and appendices (optional)
• Take home final examination

Session 10 – Review and Grading of Final Exam

• Review course, answer questions.
• Apply program design to Automatic Teller Machine
• Final exam - solution
• Review object oriented programming, C++, Java, and visual programming.
• Preview of C part 1 syllabus, next steps.