Chapters 1 & 2

Programming and
Programs
From Bjarne Stroustrups lecture course:
www.stroustrup.com/Programming

Abstract

In this lecture, well outline the aims for this course and present a rough
course plan. Well introduce the basic notion of programming and give
examples of areas in which software is critical to our civilization. Finally,
well present the simplest possible C++ program and outline how it can
be made into running code.

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Overview
Course aims and outline
Programming
Hello, world!
Compilation

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This is a module
In OO Programming
For OOP beginners
who want to become professionals
i.e., people who can produce systems that others will use

who are assumed to be bright

Though not (necessarily) geniuses

who are willing to work hard

Though do need sleep occasionally, and take a normal course load

Using the C++ programming language

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Not!
An easy module

if you can get into the science/engineering parts of a university,

you can handle this course

A module in

The C++ programming language

For students

who want to become language lawyers

We try not to get bogged down in technical obscurities

who are assumed to be a bit dim and fairly lazy

We try not to spoon feed

Using

Some untested software development methodologies and a lot of

unnecessarily long words

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The Aims
Teach/learn

Fundamental programming concepts

Key useful techniques
Basic Standard C++ facilities

After the course, youll be able to

Write small colloquial C++ programs

Read much larger programs
Learn the basics of many other languages by yourself
Proceed with an advanced C++ programming course

After the course, you will not (yet) be

An expert programmer
A C++ language expert
An expert user of advanced libraries
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The Means
Lectures
Attend every one

Notes/Chapters
Read a chapter ahead (about one per lecture)
Read the chapter again after each lecture
Feedback is welcome (typos, suggestions, etc.)

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The Means (Cont.)

Work
Review questions in lectures
Review Terms in lectures
Lab work: 50%
Drills and exercises
Always do the drills
Always do the drills before the exercises

Exercises

Exam: 50%

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Cooperate on Learning

Except for the work you hand in as individual contributions,

we strongly encourage you to collaborate and help each
other
If in doubt if a collaboration is legitimate: ask!

Dont claim to have written code that you copied from others
Dont give anyone else your code (to hand in for a grade)
When you rely on the work of others, explicitly list all of your sources
i.e. give credit to those who did the work

Dont study alone when you dont have to

Form study groups

Do help each other (without plagiarizing)

Ask plenty of questions in labs!

Come in prepared with questions

The only stupid questions are the ones you wanted to ask but didnt
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Why C++ ?

You cant learn to program without a programming language

The purpose of a programming language is to allow you to
express your ideas in code
C++ is the language that most directly allows you to express
ideas from the largest number of application areas
C++ is the most widely used language in engineering areas

http://www.research.att.com/~bs/applications.html

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Why C++ ?

C++ is precisely and comprehensively defined by an

ISO standard

And that standard is almost universally accepted

C++ is available on almost all kinds of computers

Programming concepts that you learn using C++
can be used fairly directly in other languages

Including C, Java, C#, and (less directly) Fortran

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Rough course outline

Part I: The basics

Types, variables, strings, console I/O, computations, errors, vectors functions,
source files, classes

Part II: Input and Output

File I/O, I/O streams
Graphical output
Graphical User Interface

Throughout
Program design and development techniques
C++ language features
Background and related fields, topics, and languages

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Promises
Detail: We will try to explain every construct used in this course
in sufficient detail for real understanding
There is no magic

Utility: We will try to explain only useful concepts, constructs,

and techniques
We will not try to explain every obscure detail

Completeness: The concepts, constructs, and techniques can

be used in combination to construct useful programs
There are, of course, many useful concepts, constructs, and techniques
beyond what is taught here

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More Promises
Realism: the concepts, constructs, and techniques can be used
to build industrial strength programs
i.e., they have been used to

Simplicity: The examples used are among the simplest realistic

ones that illustrate the concepts, constructs, and techniques
Your exercises and projects will provide more complex examples

Scalability: The concepts, constructs, and techniques can be

used to construct large, reliable, and efficient programs
i.e., they have been used to

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Feedback request
Please post questions and constructive comments to the
moodle site:
http://moodle.itb.ie/mod/forum/view.php?id=52659
Or you could email [email protected]
Your feedback will be most appreciated
On style, contents, detail, examples, clarity, conceptual problems,
exercises, missing information, depth, etc.

Book support website (www.stroustrup.com/Programming)

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Why programming?
Our civilization runs on software
Most engineering activities involve software

Note: most programs do not run on things that look

like a PC
a screen, a keyboard, a box under the table

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Ships

Design
Construction
Management

Monitoring
Engine
Hull design
Pumps

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Aircraft

Communication
Control
Display

Signal processing
Gadget control
Monitoring

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Phones

Voice quality
User interfaces
Billing
Mobility

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Switching
Reliability
Provisioning
Images

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Energy

Control
Monitoring
Analysis
Design

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Communications
Visualization
Manufacturing

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PC/workstation

Theres a lot more to computing than games, word processing, browsing,

and spreadsheets!

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Where is C++ Used?

Just about everywhere

Mars rovers, animation, graphics, Photoshop, GUI, OS, compilers, slides, chip
design, chip manufacturing, semiconductor tools, etc.
See www.research.att/~bs/applications.html
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A first program just the guts

//
int main()
// main() is where a C++ program starts
{
cout << "Hello, world!\n";
// output the 13 characters Hello, world!
// followed by a new line
return 0;
// return a value indicating success
}
// quotes delimit a string literal
// NOTE: smart quotes will cause compiler problems.
//
so make sure your quotes are of the style " "
// \n is a notation for a new line

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A first program complete

// a first program:
#include "../../std_lib_facilities.h" // get the library facilities needed for now
int main()
// main() is where a C++ program starts
{
cout << "Hello, world!\n";
// output the 13 characters Hello, world!
// followed by a new line
return 0;
// return a value indicating success
}
// note the semicolons; they terminate statements
// curly brackets { } group statements into a block
// main( ) is a function that takes no arguments ( )
// and returns an int (integer value) to indicate success or failure
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A second program
// modified for Windows console mode:
#include "../../std_lib_facilities.h"

// get the facilities for this course

int main()
// main() is where a C++ program starts
{
cout << "Hello, world\n";
// output the 13 characters hello, world!
// followed by a new line
keep_window_open();
// wait for a keystroke
return 0;
// return a value indicating success
}
// without keep_window_open() the output window will be closed immediately
// before you have a chance to read the output (on Visual C++ 2003)
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Hello, world!
Hello world is a very important program
Its purpose is to help you get used to your tools
Compiler
Program development environment
Program execution environment

Type in the program carefully

After you get it to work, please make a few mistakes to see how the
tools respond; for example

Forget the header

Forget to terminate the string
Misspell return (e.g. retrun)
Forget a semicolon
Forget { or }

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Hello world
Its almost all boiler plate

Only cout << "Hello, world!\n" directly does anything

Thats normal
Most of our code, and most of the systems we use simply exist to make
some other code elegant and/or efficient
real world non-software analogies abound

Boiler plate, that is, notation, libraries, and other support is

what makes our code simple, comprehensible, trustworthy, and
efficient.
Would you rather write 1,000,000 lines of machine code?

This implies that we should not just get things done; we

should take great care that things are done elegantly, correctly,
and in ways that ease the creation of more/other software:

Style Matters!
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Compilation and linking

C++ source code
C++ compiler
Object code
Executable program
linker
Library Object code

You write C++ source code

Source code is (in principle) human readable

The compiler translates what you wrote into object code (sometimes called
machine code)
Object code is simple enough for a computer to understand

The linker links your code to system code needed to execute

E.g. input/output libraries, operating system code, and windowing code

The result is an executable program

E.g. a .exe file on windows or an a.out file on Unix
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So what is programming?
Conventional definitions
Telling a very fast moron exactly what to do
A plan for solving a problem on a computer
Specifying the order of a program execution
But modern programs often involve millions of lines of code
And manipulation of data is central

Definition from another domain (academia)

A program is an organized and directed accumulation of resources to
accomplish specific objectives
Good, but no mention of actually doing anything

The definition well use

Specifying the structure and behavior of a program, and testing that the
program performs its task correctly and with acceptable performance
Never forget to check that it works

Software == one or more programs

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Programming
Programming is fundamentally simple
Just state what the machine is to do

So why is programming hard?

We want the machine to do complex things
And computers are nitpicking, unforgiving, dumb beasts

The world is more complex than wed like to believe

So we dont always know the implications of what we want

Programming is understanding
When you can program a task, you understand it
When you program, you spend significant time trying to understand the
task you want to automate

Programming is part practical, part theory

If you are just practical, you produce non-scalable unmaintainable hacks
If you are just theoretical, you produce toys
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The next lecture

Will talk about types, values, variables, declarations, simple input and
output, very simple computations, and type safety.

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