CMPT 125: Introduction to Computing

Science and Programming II

Fall 2023

Week 1: Course Intro, Introduction to C

Instructor:Victor Cheung, PhD
School of Computing Science, Simon Fraser University

© Victor Cheung, 2023

 Spagetti
Complicated. Hard to understand.

The Pasta
Theor y of
Programming Lasagna
– By Raymond J. Understandable. Layered.
Rubey

Ravioli
Modular. Nourishing

Source: https://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/pasta.code.html
 It Is Important to Write Good Code

• Easy to maintain
• If you need to change something you know where & how
• Gets the job done & done well
• Write working code effectively and efficiently
• Easy to share
• Reusable, adds value, engaging, and empowering

Takes time and practice, but worth it!

Source: https://xkcd.com/844/
 What You Will Learn in This Course

• Design & implement solutions to problems using C/C++

• Explain, analyze, & compare algorithms in terms of performance
• Describe & utilize fundamental computing science concepts
• Maintain good coding practice and style

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 What This Course Is Really About

• Main objective is to learn about the concepts of CS concepts

Computing Science and Programming
• And a little bit of good coding practice C/C++
(as a means)
• C/C++ is just a means to practice it
• You might have learned other languages by yourself or Programming
tools
through other courses
Development
environments
• Use tools to work with C/C++ source code
• Makefiles and IDEs, also a bit of Unix/Linux

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 How This Course Is Related to Your Labs

• CMPT 125 has lectures and labs

• Lectures talk about theories informing practice in labs
• Labs involves practice informing theories in lectures CS concepts CS concepts
• You can also ask questions about
C/C++
assignments in labs How the
syntaxes &
code works
uses
C/C++ and
Programming
some code
constructs
management

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Lectures Labs
 Lecture Over view

• Logistics
• Expectations
• How to do well in this course
• Concepts in Computing Science
• Introduction to C

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 Logistics – Your Course Instructor

• Victor Cheung
• PhD in System Design Engineering, University of Waterloo
• Research in interaction & interface design, tangible systems, emerging technologies
• [email protected]

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 Logistics – Course Info

• Lectures: Wednesdays 1:30p – 2:20p (SSCB 9200), Fridays 12:30p – 2:20p (SSCB 9200)
• Labs: Tuesdays 8:30a – 9:20a / 9:30a – 10:20a / 10:30a – 11:20a / 11:30a – 12:20p (ASB 9838N)
• Office Hours: TBA, check SFU Canvas
• Teaching Team
When sending your email:
• Instructor: Victor Cheung, PhD | Email: [email protected] • Use your SFU email
• In the subject line begin with "CMPT 125 D100:"
• Teaching Assistants:
and then topic of your message. For example,
• Kajori Roy | Email: [email protected] CMPT 125 D100: Missed Assignment 1
• In the body of your message, include your full
• Risheek Sood | Email: [email protected]
name, SFU ID, 9-digit student number and section
• Naina Thapar | Email: [email protected] number
• David Ricardo Wong | Email: [email protected]
• Help email that reaches all the teaching personnel: [email protected] 9
 Logistics – Readings

• We’ll use parts of these books and a collection of online readings

• Seacord, R. C. (2020). Effective C. No Starch Press. Online access (requires SFU login): https://sfu-
primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/usv8m3/01SFUL_ALMA51348448870003611
• Ullman, L. E., Liyanage, M., & Safari Tech Books Online. (2005). C programming (1st edition.). Peachpit Press. Online access
(requires SFU login): https://sfu-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/usv8m3/01SFUL_ALMA51188910730003611
• Good reference for C/C++:
• http://cplusplus.com/
• https://en.cppreference.com/
• https://www.programiz.com/c-programming

*Instructor’s notes prevail when there is a conflict. Contact the instructor when in doubt 10
 Logistics – Course Materials

• All materials (or links to them) are on Canvas (https://canvas.sfu.ca/courses/80226)

• We will also use CourSys (https://coursys.sfu.ca/2023fa-cmpt-125-d1/) for submissions
• No recordings will be available. IT service might record audio automatically, email me if you have a valid reason to miss a lecture and
I’ll see what I can do (but generally speaking if you miss a lecture you miss a lecture, decision is yours)
• Use the Discussion forums to ask questions or give suggestions
• We will be monitoring them to give you answers in a timely manner
• We might remove your post if it has solutions or anything that might lead to plagiarism or cheating, or if it is inappropriate
• Software tools
• You may use any tools to write your code to start (e.g., Replit, online-ide, Atom,VS Code)… BUT
• Before you submit connect or go to CSIL machines to develop & test your code (we’ll use that to mark your code)
• If your submitted code doesn’t compile/run there, you get 0 marks
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 Logistics – Assignments/Labs/Exams

• Tentative:
• Assignment 1/2/3/4 (30%) | due on Sep 29/ Oct 13/ Nov 10/ Dec 1
• Lab Attendance/Demo (10%): best 10 out of all available labs
• Midterm Exam (25%): cumulative and include all materials covered thus far | on Week 9 during the 2-hour lecture
• Final Exam (35%): cumulative and include all materials covered thus far | TBA
• Assignment late penalty: 10% per calendar day (each 0 to 24 hour period past due), max 2 days late
• The instructor will do his best to accommodate within reason, but will have the final say
• Contact the instructor as soon as possible
• More details as the due dates approach

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 Logistics – General Etiquette

• Be on time (if you are late, come in quietly)

• Ask if you have questions (raise your hand or ask after the lecture)
• Treat all messaging platforms (e.g., discussion forums, emails) professionally
• Email using your SFU account, put “CMPT 125 D100” in the title
• Include your full name and student ID in your signature
• Use full sentences and no textisms like “b4”, “w8”, “that’s gr8”, “thx 4 BN aQr8”
• Fun read: An Analysis of Language in University Students’ Text Messages
by Lyddy et al. 2013 https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12045
• Check it frequently – if I need to contact you directly this will be where I do it

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 Things That You Should Know (Doesn’t have to be in C)

• Variables
• Data types (integer, float, char, string, boolean)
• Lists/arrays
• Basic I/O
Don’t worry if you
• Conditionals (if/if-else/if-else if-else) only remember some,
• Loops (for, while)
• Functions, parameter passing
we’ll revisit them
• The design → test → debug cycle

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 Examples of Things You Should Know

• You should be comfortable solving the following problems (in Python, Java, …etc.)
• Write a function that gets a string and decide if it is a palindrome. For example:
is_palindrome(“ABCDCBA”) needs to return True
is_palindrome(“ABCDB”) needs to return False
• Write a function that gets a string and finds the longest substring that is a palindrome. For example:
longest_substring_palindrome(“ABCDBAABBA”) needs to return “ABBA”
longest_substring_palindrome(“ABCDB”) needs to return “A”
• Write a function that gets a list of digits, and outputs a string containing the largest number you can writing
using these digits. For example:
max_number([1,2,8,8,1,1, 0]) needs to return “8821110”

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 Should You Take This Course?

SHOULD SHOULD NOT

• If you want to learn about Computing Science and • If you are here only to learn C/C++
what it is about
• If you do not want to write code
• If you want to become better in designing and
• If you are looking for an easy A
writing your code
• If you have some programming background and
want to learn about C/C++

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 Who Will Do Well in This Course?

• Attend classes and pay attention Looking for information online

• Participate in discussions • Check course notes first!
• Then check readings & course materials
• Make progress on assignments/projects regularly • Google/StackOverflow/YouTube may seem
useful but can also contain advanced code
• Get advice from the instructor/TAs when needed that will be more confusing than helpful…
proceed with caution
• Follow instructions carefully on assignments
• Regularly review readings / course notes (and find other reading materials)
• Put in the extra effort in maintaining your code

• For grading policies refer to the Course Policies page on Canvas

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 Academic Integrity

• No plagiarism
• All referenced work must be appropriately cited, including code, websites, images, figures, and graphs
• Never directly copy & paste and treat it as yours
• You must write your own code (we will use software, e.g., MOSS, to check)
• No cheating
• All assignments/exams must be your own work (team’s work if it is a team project)
• It is ok to discuss with others for assignments, but you have to write your own work. Mention whom you have talked to if necessary
• All incidents will be reported according to SFU policy
• http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html
• Understand what is considered cheating and what is not at SFU’s Academic Integrity Tutorial (https://canvas.sfu.ca/courses/56136)

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 What about ChatGPT (or Other AI Tools)?

• I know they exist (and I use them sometimes), they work like helpers/tutors
• General rule-of-thumb: you can use them, but DO NOT copy (that’s academic dishonesty)
• Be aware of the risks:
• …
• Keep this in mind:
• You can’t use them in exam
• Not only you have access to them

*different instructors might have different policies, check with them

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 You Are An Adult Now

• You are not a child anymore and you are responsible to your own decisions & actions
• Manage your time
• Plan ahead for deadlines, get enough rests, do stuff that you enjoy
• Be proactive
• Look up information beyond what’s in the slides, ask questions when in doubt
• We might not answer your questions if we have already provided answers to them
• Do honest work
• All the academic integrity information are available and you can’t claim you don’t know about them

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 Expectation Management

• 125 is very different and the pace is much faster than 120 or your other intro courses
• It combines programming, CS concepts, and labs all in one course
• You are expected to write a lot of code
• Expect to write multiple files, each about 200-300 lines of code
• You only have 2-3 weeks between each assignment, some build on top of the previous
• You are expected to do your own practice and read additional materials as needed
• We will provide some post-lecture activities, practice exercises, complementary readings, but in
the end you need to help yourself
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 Questions?
If you have questions later in the course, feel free to ask them in the Discussion on Canvas

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Let’s start with Some Concepts

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 Some Core Concepts in Computing Science

• Algorithms – a sequence of instructions to complete a task or solve a problem

• There are usually many different ways to complete the same task or solve the same problem (hence different algorithms)
• The clearer each step the better (there are other ways to make an algorithm better, e.g., faster, requires less space)
• Programming – the action of communicating an algorithm to computers using a specific language
• Here we use C (and some C++)
• Data structures – specific ways for computers to store a collection of data for better management (e.g., insert,
remove, search)
• Different structures have different properties and trade-offs (e.g., faster in some operations slower in others, takes more space)
• Most are independent from programming languages (i.e., you can implement them using languages other than C/C++)

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 The Compilation Process (1)

• Interpreted programming language (e.g., Python, Javascript)

• You implement algorithms into code, interpreter runs one instruction at a time when executing the program

Interpreter
• Algorithm • Running program
• Source code
You Output

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 The Compilation Process (2)

• Compiled programming language (e.g., C/C++, Java)

• You implement algorithms into code, compiler converts code into machine code (instructions),
computer runs one instruction at a time when executing the program

Compiler Output
• Algorithm • Machine code
• Source code • Running
program
You Computer

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 Interpreted VS Compiled

INTERPRETED COMPILED

• Errors are caught only when the interpreter is • Some errors can be caught during compile time so
trying to run them they can be fixed earlier
• Can test the code quicker because the interpreter • Takes a bit longer to get the code running because
directly runs it of the compilation process
• Program is less optimized because the interpreter • Program often performs better because some
needs to convert the code into machine code optimizations for the operating system and
internally every time architecture can be done by the compiler

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C is within the top 3 most popular (used/searched/taught) programming language
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 Something about C

• C was developed by Dennis Ritchie between 1972 & 1973 at AT&T Bell Labs
• Designed to map to typical machine instruction – so the source code can easily be compiled & optimized,
but also sometimes hard to understand
• Widely used to implement operating systems, computationally intensive programs, computer graphics
• Provides low-level access to system memory via pointers – highly flexible but can cause strange and
sometimes harmful impacts to the system

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 Let’s Take A Look at A C Program

What would you

do if you want the
This allows you to use program to print a
external code (library) different sentence?

What happens if
you want to print
Lines 3-7 is what we
more sentences?
call the “main function”,
which is the entry
point of a C program

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*Refer to the “Accessing CSIL machines remotely” page on Canvas to learn about different ways to connect to CSIL
 Homework!

• Read Ch. 1 of the Effective C book

• Use gcc instead of cc to compile your source code in CSIL machines
• Investigate the difference between puts and printf
• Do the “Tell Us about You” survey on Canvas
• Find out how to connect to a CSIL machine (CLI and RDP)
• Get yourself an access fob to CSIL (our labs will take place there starting next week)
• Write the “Hello World” program from scratch without referring to any notes
• Try printing something other than “Hello World!”, then try printing more than one sentence
• For fun, watch this video I made: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQa1HHTMmmQ

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