Calendar Description

Introduction to programming with procedures and primitive data types, designed for B.C.S. students. Topics include: arrays, strings, pointers, heap and stack memory allocation and deallocation, iterative and recursive linked list manipulations, system/library calls.

Assumed Background

Learning objectives completed before this course.

Learning Objectives

Gain experience in understanding and working with portions of an existing code base
Understand the basics of operating systems
Gain experience in procedural and low-level programming, including:
- data types and structures
- memory management
- program building
- library functions and system calls
- shell environment and script programming

Topics

Introduction to Operating Systems

Introduction to Systems Programming

Understand and apply basic programming conventions:
- proper variable names
- appropriate commenting
- indentation using established style

Understand how to use primitive data types and structures
- bit models and representations
- arrays, strings, structures

Understand basics of memory management
- variables
  - primitive data types
  - scope
  - storage class
- functions
  - pass-by-value
  - pass-by-reference
- memory allocation
  - static vs. dynamic memory allocation
  - pointers, double pointers
  - garbage collection
- program memory organization
  - function call stack, contents of stack frame
  - heap
  - data segment
  - code segment

Program management
- able to build programs across multiple header and source files

Library functions and system calls
- able to research and understand standard library function and system call documentation
- understand how to create a new library for distribution
- able to program with system calls:
  - stream and file I/O
  - signal handling
  - multiprocess programming
  - inter-process communications (sockets, RPC)

Scripting languages
- understand the basics of shell script programming