Test 1 Study Guide

The test is 100 points long. It includes multiple-choice and true-false question, short coding and longer coding.

The material on the test is more or less what we have been doing on assignments 1 through 3. Look at the asignments and look at the quiz questions.

Topics we have not encountered in the homework are not likely to appear on this test. For instance, as we have no yet made any use of reference arguments in the homework, you need not worry about references on this test. The topics listed below and the sample problems do include a few extra items.

Topics

• Know how to declare and initialize arrays (both one and two dimensional)
• Know what value (row or column size) needs to be specified when passing a two-dimensional array to a function
• Know how to declare a pointer
• Know how to assign a value to and get a value from a pointer variable
• Know what we mean by "pointer arithmetic"
• Know how to use the "Right-Left" rule

g++ compiler

• Know the sequence (ie. what happens when a source code (.cc) file is supplied)
• Be familiar with the different flags that we have been using (-o -O -c -Wall etc...)
• Be able to write statements that will compile and link a program

make utility and Makefiles

• Know the format of a rule in the makefile. (Don't forget about the tab!)
• Know how to code a dummy target (ie. clean)
• Know how to create and use variables in a make file
• Be able to write a rule for a make file

Header guards

• Know how to use #ifdef and #ifndef
• Know why they are used

Sorting

• Know the difference between the Bubble, Insertion, and Selection sorts
• Be able to sort a list of numbers using any of the three sorts listed above (ie. When given a list of numbers be able to show what the list will look like after 1 or 2 passes of a sort)

Input/Output

• Know how to read in data from standard input as well as a file
• Know how to write data to standard output as well as to a file
• Know how to format output
• Know which output manipulators require special #include statements
• Know how to justify output left or right
• Know how to do conversions between values (ie. print in different base values)

Program Structure

• Know the difference between #include "filename" and #include <filename>
• Know the different formats for the using statement
• Know the replacement for #define symbolic constants
• Be able to define a class and its various member functions (also known as methods)
• Know the similarities and differences between a structure and a class
• Know what it means to pass a variable by reference
• Know the difference between local and global variables, and how the keyword "extern" fits in
• Know how to use the keyword "const"
• Know how and where to assign default values for function arguments

File input/output

• Know how to open a file for input or output
• Know how to check for end of file
• Know how to open a file in binary mode
• Know how to close a file

Sample Questions

1. Suppose we have a project which uses several source code files:

            Calc.cc includes files "Rational.h" and "BigUInt.h".
            Rational.cc includes files "BigUInt.h" and "Rational.h".
            BigUInt.cc includes files "Byte.h" and "BigUInt.h". 
            Byte.cc includes the file "Byte.h".

   Write a make file which includes targets to compile the 4 .cc files (one at a time), to link the 4 resulting .o files into an executable named "Calc", and to clean up the working directory.

2. Name three g++ compiler options and what they do.

3. What is the major difference between a class and a struct?

4. Write a declaration for a constant pointer to a character.

5. Write a declaration for a pointer to a constant character.

6. What are header guards? Why do we need them?

7. Suppose I have a function called DoIt with 5 arguments, A, B, C, D and E. I want 3 of the arguments to have default values: C = 13, D = 54.9, and E = 'X'. DoIt returns void.

   The other two arguments, A and B, are each integers.

   Write a prototype statement for the function.

   Write the function header for the function. (Notice this is not the same.)

   Suppose I want to use DoIt passing it the values 13 for A, 47 for B and 'Z' for E. Write the line to call the function.

   Suppose I want to use DoIt passing it the values 31 for A, 74 for C and 'S' for E. Write the line to call the function.

8. I want to have a Date class.

   There should be 3 private data members, Day, Month and Year, all integers.

   There should be a constructor which will initialize a Date object to January 1, 2011.

   There should also be a constructor which takes 3 integer arguments and initializes the Date object using them.

   There should be public methods to change the values of Day, Month and Year, and there should be public methods to return the values of Day, Month and Year.

   There should be a PrintDate method to print the date in the format 3/1/2011.

   All methods that can be constant should be constant.

   1. Write the complete header file for the Date class.

   2. Write the code for the second constructor.

   3. Write the code for the GetMonth method.

   4. Create an object of the Date class using the default constructor.

   5. Change the Year of the object just created to 2012.

   6. Write a function (not a member of the class) to print just the day and month (as in 3/1).

9. Suppose we have an array ALPH of 8 characters: G A P E R Z M H. We want to sort it in ascending order.
   • Suppose we use the Selection Sort method. What will the array look lilke after 2 passes through the outer loop?

   • Suppose we use the Insertion Sort method. What will the array look lilke after 2 passes through the outer loop?

   • Suppose we use the Bubble Sort method. What will the array look lilke after 2 passes through the outer loop?

10. What #include statements do we need if:
    • we want to read from a file?
    • we want to print an integer in base 16?
    • we want to print a float with 4 digits right of the decimal point?
    • we want to use the C string library?
    • we want to use the class called "widget" which we wrote ourselves?

11. What steps are involved in opening a file for binary input, reading from it, and closing the file?