Contents

• What is the TTT online learning system?
• Index to Topics

Structure of the TTT system.

1. Topic: An expository section which contains reading material, diagrams and examples designed to introduce and explain the concepts involved in the topic.
2. Task: A group of activities which you are encouraged to do. These tasks relate directly to the elements in the topic and provide the most important ingredient in your learning: practice. Many tasks now also have a link called "Sample solution" which will give you an immediate check of your work on a particular task.
3. Test: A set of multiple choice questions which you answer directly in the document. When you have chosen your answers, you can send the test off to be marked by clicking on the "Submit Test" button at the bottom of the test. The correct answers and your score are delivered back to you immediately.

Where the course materials come from.

Who can do the course?

1. Preliminary concepts and control structures.
2. Modularisation with Functions.
3. TTT Problem Set 1.
4. Batch Processing.
5. Arrays in C++.
6. Structures and arrays of structures.

Topic 1: Getting started.

The very beginning of the course. This topic gives some preliminary advice about learning to program and explains the mechanical steps involved in writing a computer program.

Topic 2: C++ Program structure.

This topic gives you a general overview of what a C++ program looks like and introduces you to the various 'sections' of C++ programs.

Topic 3: Simple Programs.

In this topic you are introduced to your first (very simple) program and given the opportunity to examine it in detail.

Topic 4: Making decisions.

This is an introduction to binary selection using the keywords "if" and "else"

Topic 5: More about selection.

Some other work on if/else structures including more complex logical expressions.

Topic 6: Going Loopy.

An introduction to iteration (looping) in C++. This topic covers the simple facts about while loops.

Topic 7: Combining control structurs.

This topic puts together the work on while loops and binary selection and introduces 'interactive loops'.

Topic 8: An introduction to modularisation with C++ functions.

Here we start to look at functions. These are extremely important in programminmg, especially in C++. This topic is kept to a simple introduction.

Topic 9: Sending information to functions.

This continues the work on functions by introducing parameters. It discusses the way be use actual and formal parameters to pass values to functions.

Topic 10: Functions which return information to the caller.

This topic introduces the 'return' mechanism of C++ functions which allows them to deliver results back to the code which called them.

Topic 11: Reference variables and parameters.

This last topic on functions discusses passing parameters to functions by reference. It includes some work on automatic memory allocation for parameters (longer and more technical than the previous work on functions).

TTT Problem Set 1

This is a set of easy problems to be used for essential practice. A fully worked example showing analysis, design, test and code is provided as well as other problems with online sample solutions.

Topic 12: Reading and processing data from external files.

This topic introduces the creation, openning, reading and processing of data which is held in external text files. A number of examples are given and many of the sample solutions also contain sample data files and sample output from programs which process these data files.

Topic 13: Writing data to external text files.

Here we look at the mirror image of Topic 12. This topic is short as much of the work has been covered in Topic 12. However, there is at least one difference between reading and writing to files so this topic is still worth reading.

Topic 14: Introduction to Arrays.

A preliminary look at our first 'structured' data type. This topic provides the very elementary concepts behind arrays and simple array processing.

Topic 15: Array processing routines.

Here I demonstrate a number of 'standard' routines for dealing with arrays and along the way, discuss the merits of using 'for' loops to process arrays. The method of passing an array to a function is also covered.

Topic 16: Arrays of character - Strings.

Strings are arrays which are used to hold words, sentences and messages. This topic deals with the special methods used to construct and manage strings.

Topic 17: Structures

This topic introduces the definition of C++ structs. It discusses the use of structs and gives some examples.

Last Update: May 8, 1996