COMPUTER SCIENCE AND LABORATORY

Expected Learning Outcomes

The specific objectives of this course are:

• Teach the basic principles of structured programming through the C language.
• Understand all the various steps that allow you to move from the problem to be solved or from the phenomenon to be analyzed (and / or simulated) to its implementation via software.
• Acquire the ability to identify the most satisfactory one in terms of speed / memory among several solutions.    
• Acquire the ability to correctly analyze experimental data.

Furthermore, with reference to the so-called Dublin Descriptors, this course contributes to acquiring the following software skills:

Knowledge and understanding:

The primary objective of the course is identified in the acquisition by the students of the "philosophy" of structured programming, as well as in the detailed knowledge of the syntax and semantics of the C programming language. The course pays particular attention to the development of well written and well structured C code.

Applying knowledge and understanding:

It is intended to provide students with the following skills:

1. Translate problems to be solved or phenomena to simulate into code;
2. Design, describe and implement C programs;
3. Knowing how to use the basic tools for programming;
4. Understand and analyze C code also in terms of efficiency;

Autonomy of judgment (making judgments).

Through the examination of numerous code examples and a substantial practical component that involves the development of computer exercises, the learner will be able, both autonomously and cooperatively, to analyze problems, design and implement the related software solutions.

Communication skills.

The student will acquire the necessary communication skills and expressive appropriateness in the use of technical verbal language in the context of computer programming.

Learning skills.

The course aims to provide the learner with the necessary theoretical and practical methodologies to be used in research and professional contexts with particular attention to the physical field.

Course Structure

Lectures and PC exercises.

Should the circumstances require online or blended teaching, appropriate modifications to what is hereby stated may be introduced, in order to achieve the main objectives of the course.

Required Prerequisites

No one in particular

Attendance of Lessons

Detailed Course Content

The concept of algorithm

The concept of programming

Overview of programming languages

Difference between interpreters and compilers

The organization of memory in a processing system

Overview of the C language

The concept of variable

The sizeof operator

Header files

Stages of compilation

Errors and warnings

Type of C basic data and their modifiers

Constants Enumerations

I / O of a program

Expressions and mathematical functions

Type conversions

Overflow and underflow

Assignment operators

Unary operators

Mathematical functions

Random values

Conditional execution: IF

Logical operators

Conditional execution: SWITCH

Iterative execution: WHILE, FOR and DO-WHILE

Vectors and matrices

Characters and strings

The concept of indentation of the code

Comma operator

Ternary operator

Discussion on the endianess

The system function

Bitwise operators

Text files and binary files

Pointers Distinctions between pointers and vectors

Pointers arithmetic

Functions on byte blocks

The functions in C.

Prototype

Local variables

Parameters and return value

Current and formal parameters

Explicit and implicit parameter switching

Static variables

The recursion

Data structures and union

The typedef operator

Introduction to the preprocessor C

Dynamic allocation of memory

Pointers to memory functions

Textbook Information

Any C book

Course Planning

Learning Assessment Procedures

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises