Introduction to Programming (CS 101)

Spring 2024

Lecture 1:
- Introduction; Course Administration
- Start coding with simple programs Instructor: Preethi Jyothi

- Based on material developed by Prof. Abhiram Ranade and Prof. Manoj Prabhakaran
Computers

• Computers are an integral part of our daily lives:

• Cyber-physical systems in smart grids, medical device monitoring, ...
• Embedded systems inside your smart phones, TVs, home appliances, ...
• Computer systems grouped together in large networks: Internet, email, search, etc.

• Computers are machines that can be instructed (via programs or code) to carry out a
wide variety of tasks

Images from: https://www.aiwire.net/2014/08/04/beginnings-hyperscale-google/ and https://www.google.com/about/datacenters/data-security/

What will this course teach you?

• Computer programming: Involves writing instructions in a speci c computer language

for a computer to follow

• Ability to computationally think about problems

• Good coding/programming practices

Image from: https://xkcd.com/1513/

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Programming language for CS101: C++
• C Programming Language (created in 1970s by Dennis Ritchie)
• Developed to build the Unix operating system
• Consistently among the top four programming languages[1]

• C++ Programming Language (created in 1980s by Bjarne Stroustrup)

• Originally an extension of C, and signi cantly expanded over time
• Standards: C++98, C++03, C++11, C++14, C++17, C++20, C++23, ...

[1]Based on the TIOBE index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIOBE_index

Image from: https://www.modernescpp.com/index.php/c26-the-next-c-standard/
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Programming language for CS101: C++
• C Programming Language (created in 1970s by Dennis Ritchie)
• Developed to build the Unix operating system
• Consistently among the top four programming languages[1]

• C++ Programming Language (created in 1980s by Bjarne Stroustrup)

• Originally an extension of C, and signi cantly expanded over time
• Standards: C++98, C++03, C++11, C++14, C++17, C++20, C++23, ...

• In this course, we will learn a subset of very important features of C++

[1] Based on the TIOBE index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIOBE_index

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Programming environment

• Initial Weeks: C++ augmented with simplecpp

• simplecpp is a C++ library developed at IITB by Prof. Abhiram Ranade

• Convenient for beginners to programming:

• Easy-to-use wrappers to simplify syntax
• Graphics programming -- more visual, more fun!

• Download this le to set up simplecpp: https://drive.google.com/ le/d/

1nJMm1KwlXkqAKHIVDi-Xt3HrImMJM7Tx/view?usp=sharing (Will also be posted on Moodle/
Bodhitree)

• Later Weeks: Transition to C++

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How do you get good at programming?

"The only way to learn a new programming language is by writing programs in it"
- Dennis Ritchie, Creator of the C programming language, Turing Award (1983)

• You will see your rst program in class today.

• Seeing programs is necessary but not suf cient.

• In your rst lab, you will set up your system and start coding!
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Course Administration and Trivia
CS 101, 2025
Course personnel
• Instructor: Preethi Jyothi (Associate Professor, CSE@IITB, https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~pjyothi)

• Course Manager: Firuza Nageshrau Karmali ( [email protected])

• CS101 RAs: Sanchit Kadwe (24M0836), Mayur Pokharkar (24M0840)

• TAs: Large ≈100 strong team of TAs! Visit https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~cs101/team.html

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Course logistics
CS101 every week: Two lectures (3 hours), One lab (2 hours)

Lectures: Posted on Moodle right before/after class. Also, additional reading material (at times)

Course Website: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~cs101/

Attendance: Follow institute policy and use SAFE. TAs will mark attendance in labs.

Bodhitree: Learning management system. All lab-related updates, submissions, exams.

Class Announcements: Made via Moodle or Bodhitree. Please check your emails.

Asynchronous Q&A: Approach your TAs or the course manager (Firuza, [email protected])

Extra Help Sessions: Schedule up on https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~cs101/

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Course resources

Textbook: "An Introduction to Programming through C++",

Abhiram Ranade, McGraw Hill Education, 2014.

Website: https://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/~ranade/book.html
Available in physical and online bookstores.
Integrated with use of simplecpp

Course Material: My slides, sample programs, links to additional reading (all on Moodle)

Online Course: Prof. Abhiram Ranade's NPTEL course

https://archive.nptel.ac.in/noc/courses/noc21/SEM1/noc21-cs38/
Evaluation (with schedule)
Theory Quiz 1 [Feb 5, 2025] ( 7% )
Lab Quiz 1 [Feb 15-16, 2025] ( 13% )
Midsem Exam [Feb 22 - Mar 2, 2025] ( 20% )
Theory Quiz 2 [Mar 26, 2025] ( 7% )
Lab Quiz 2 [Apr 12-13, 2025] ( 13% )
Endsem Exam [Apr 21 - May 1, 2025] ( 30% )
Participation [Weekly labs] ( 10% )

• Last date for showing answer sheets: May 5, 2025

• Plan your travel after May 5, 2025
• Make-up tests will be offered only for medical reasons. (Show doctor's note to avail of
this option.) This will be a mix of theory/lab, held after the endsem exam.
Academic integrity

Code of conduct:
Abide by the following honour code.

• Do not copy, give or receive code during quizzes and exams.

• Attempt lab exercises on your own. You can consult TAs, classmates, reference
material, but work on the submissions by yourself. Very useful to identify gaps in
understanding.

• If you need help, contact the personnel! (Recall: Extra help sessions.)

• If caught for copying or plagiarism, name of both parties will be handed over to
the Department Disciplinary Action Committee (DDAC)1.

1http://www1.iitb.ac.in/newacadhome/punishments201521July.pdf
Let's Get Coding!
CS 101, 2025
First program: Drawing pictures

• First few programs you will draw pictures on the screen

• Use "Turtle Simulator" contained in simplecpp

• Based on Logo: A language invented for teaching programming to children by
Seymour Papert et al.
• Give commands to a turtle to move around.
• To move the turtle, you write a C++ program.
• Turtle has a pen, so it draws as it moves.
The rst program: Draw a square

• Use simplecpp in the rst few lectures; invoked via

#include <simplecpp>

#include <simplecpp> • Main program starts with main_program and

main_program { enclosed within { }
turtleSim(); • turtleSim(): Starts the turtle simulator. Opens a
forward(100); right(90); window and a turtle at centre facing right
forward(100); right(90);
forward(100); right(90); • forward(n): Move the turtle n pixels in the direction
forward(100); it is currently facing
90 is an
getClick(); argument
• right(k): Turn the turtle k degrees to the right
}
• Note: Semicolons, used as punctuators in C++
• getClick(): Wait for a click
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How to run the program?

if error

if error

Instruct your
Use an editor
Use a C++ OS to
(e.g., vim) or
compiler execute the
an IDE text le binary le
(e.g., g++) code (e.g.,
(e.g.,
via shell
VSCode)
commands)
Write Compile Run
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 Errors or Bugs

• A "bug" is a defect in the program (either in its syntax

or logic)
• Common bugs include syntax errors (e.g., missing
semicolon), runtime errors (e.g., divide by zero),
logical errors
• Debugging: Process of nding and xing bugs in
your code

Image from Reddit

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 Errors or Bugs

• A "bug" is a defect in the program (either in its syntax

or logic)
• Common bugs include syntax errors (e.g., missing
semicolon), runtime errors (e.g., divide by zero),
logical errors
• Debugging: Process of nding and xing bugs in
your code

• Small bugs can create havoc in large systems

• Recent example: Crowdstrike bug [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_CrowdStrike-related_IT_outages
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Redundancy in code?

#include <simplecpp>
main_program {
turtleSim();
forward(100); right(90);
forward(100); right(90);
forward(100); right(90);
forward(100);
getClick();
}
Use the repeat statement

repeat(n) {
⋮
body
⋮
} body consists of one or more statements

• What does this block of code do? body is executed n times

• This is a "loop" (other loop structures will be covered later on)

• Each execution of body within a loop is called an "iteration"

Draw a square using repeat
#include <simplecpp>
main_program {
turtleSim();
repeat(4) {
forward(100);
"Indentation"
right(90);
}
getClick();
}

• Indentation, with appropriate spaces, makes the code readable

• You can use 2, 3 or 4 spaces, but be consistent with this usage

• More about indentation later, as you learn more about conditional blocks, loops, functions, etc.
More simplecpp commands

• left(d): Turn left d degrees; equivalent to right(-d)

• penUp(), penDown(): Pen is raised or lowered, respectively. To get the turtle to draw as it
moves, the pen should be lowered.
• hide(): Pen visual (a triangle) is hidden

• sqrt(x): Square root of x

• sine(x), cosine(x), tangent(x): x should be in degrees

• Refer to the book for more commands

Code to draw a hexagon, polygon, dotted line

Demo in class and code shared on Moodle

 Exercises to try on your own

Draw a circle. Draw a square of side 100 and

inscribe a square inside it.

Hint: Draw a regular polygon with a Hint: Use Pythagoras’ theorem to

large number of sides nd the length of the inscribed square
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Next class: Variables, Operators, Data types
CS 101, 2025