Course Orientation

Dalia Gumeel
http://eagle.hccs.edu

Computer Science Technology Department

Table of Contents
 Welcome
 Help
 Course Platform: Eagle Online
 Required Development Tools
 Modules and Lessons
 Projects and Assignments
 Exams
 Resources

Computer Science Technology Department

Welcome
 This course requires self-discipline, self-reliance, and working on projects and
assignments timely.
 Do your own work yourself. Submitting someone else work has a serious
consequence.
 You must clearly identify and follow deadlines, exam dates, and the course
calendar.
 You must work on all lab assignments or projects. The best way to learn a
programming language is to practice non-stop.
 Study assigned chapters and work on the end of chapters exercises.
 Keep in mind that a programming language is a formal language with its own
vocabulary, grammar, and semantic. You are expected to learn these features, but
more importantly, you are expected to use these features properly and write
instructions to solve problems.

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Course Learning Outcomes
If you are taking Programming Fundamentals I
 Understand the basic working mechanism of computers and how they function.
 Compile, link, and build C++ programs using C++ Builder tools
 Declare and use C++ data types
 Construct conditional statements solve decision involved problems
 Understand and use control structure statements (loops)
 Define functions and solve problems using the modular model
 Use arrays to organize and manipulate data

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Course Learning Outcomes
If you are taking Programming Fundamentals II
 Write code with Object Oriented Programming Language principles
 Organize and manage data using multidimensional arrays
 Allocate and manage dynamic memory using C++ Pointers
 Handle composite data or information with C++ struct
 Discern the difference between C++ struct and C++ classes
 Define and work with classes, constructors/destructors, fields, methods, inner
classes, …
 Establish relationship among classes using class inheritance
 Form class hierarchy using polymorphism and solve suitable problems.
 Write generic program (C++ template) in overcoming data type dependency

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Help
 Even though all the course lessons are delivered online, you must know that our
department computer labs are fully accessible to you, so you are most welcome
to use them.
 We do have C++ Tutors. Check their schedule and consult with them when there is
a need for you.
 I do have office hours, which should be found on my syllabus, and don't hesitate
to stop by if you have a question or you would like to discuss a topic further.
 If you encounter any problem in accessing our online resources, please let me
know as early as possible so that I can correct the problem.

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Course Platform: Eagle Online
 The class is delivered on Moodle platform, known also as Eagle Online. To
access it, please visit the following site.
http://eo2.hccs.edu
 For the rest of information how to work with Eagle Online system, please
consult the documents in this orientation site.

 The only exception to this is that final exam must be taken in classroom.
According to the course calendar, you must take the final exam on the
following location:

Houston Community College-Central

1215 Holman, JDB206
Houston, TX 77004

Computer Science Technology Department

Required Development Tools
 The course requires that you do have an access to a C++ development tool.
 Our department standard tool for C++ teaching/learning is Microsoft Visual Studio. All our
department computer labs provide access to this tool.
 For some reason, If you don’t have access to Visual Studio, there are two ways you can get it.
a. You can also download it from the DreamSpark site, to which we will provide you an account
to access it. If you already have such account, you do not need a new one, but if it is
deactivated, please let us know so that we will active it for you.
https://e5.onthehub.com/WebStore/Account/VerifyImportedUser.aspx?ws=ae81008f-969b-e011-969d-
0030487d8897&vsro=8

b. You may download a free version of Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Express from Microsoft’s
site.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/visualc/download/default.aspx

 If you already have a working knowledge of Microsoft Visual Studio C++, but decide to use other
C++ builder tools, that shouldn't be a problem. Some students may prefer working under Linux or
other operating systems and that will be fine, but you must know that during final, you will be
asked to use MS Visual Studio.

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Modules and Lessons
 The modules for the course will be made available within Eagle Online.
 The modules are provided in different formats: PowerPoint and PDF.
 The C++ source code examples that I provide will be available in ZIP format.
 Each module is associated with the course calendar.
 Accordingly, you must work on each module following the course calendar.
 From time to time, I may modify any of the module, but I will announce the
change in time.

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Projects and Assignments
 For this course, the bulk of the work relies on doing assignments and projects.
 It is extremely important that you work on assignments and projects and turn them on
the correct due dates.
 All assignments and projects are submitted using the Blackboard platform.
 Assignments must be submitted on due date.
 Late projects carry 10pts penalty for each day

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Exams
 Generally, except Final Exam, all the tests are offered online. The Final Exam must be
taken in campus.
 You must prepare yourself to take the exam in campus. Unless otherwise indicated
the final exam is offered at Central campus JDB Building; Room 206. It is a two hour
exam and you must consult the course syllabus for specific date and timing.
 The questions type in online tests will be writing codes, multiple choices, short
questions, identifying syntax errors, tracing C++ code, and TRUE/FALSE.
 Final exam will have two parts; Part I will have the same questions types as above and
Part II will have programming problems that must be solved using Visual Studio C++.
 A week before each exam, there will be review which includes online chat.

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Resources
 C++ Creator

http://www.stroustrup.com/

 Microsoft C++ Standard Library Reference

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cscc687y.aspx

 Microsoft C++ Resources

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/hh386302

 “C++ References”

http://en.cppreference.com/w/

 The GNU C++ Library

http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/libstdc++/

 HCC Eagle Online Site

http://oe2.hccs.edu

Computer Science Technology Department