Course Websites

1. Topics Covered

   • Assembly language programming with subroutines and stacks

   • Basic programming concepts in C

   • Functions

   • Arrays

   • Pointers

   • I/O

   • Recursion

   • Simple data structures such as linked lists and trees

   • Basic sorting algorithms

   • Concepts in object-oriented programming

This course focuses on C programming, where each new C concept is introduced based on the fundamental concepts described in ECE120. We cover basic programming concepts, functions, arrays, pointers, I/O, recursion, simple data structures, and concepts in object-oriented programming. A bottom-up understanding of computing systems has proven more successful in helping students to understand advanced concepts in computing that follow in the ECE curriculum.

After completing this course, students should

• Understand how statements written in high-level language such as C are transformed into machine code. Be able to perform such a transformation manually. (1)

• Understand the idea of scope and storage for variables, and the role of types in high-level languages in providing information to the compiler. (1)

• Understand the stack abstraction an the notion of a calling convention and its role in supporting the transfer of information between a caller and a subroutine. (1, 7)

• Understand the concepts of arrays and pointers and their representations in memory. Be able to use arrays and pointers for problem solving. (1)

• Be able to develop and use data structures for representing and aggregating information (1, 6)

• Be able to use dynamic memory allocation for storing values and objects in memory. (1, 6)

• Understand the value of recursion as a problem-solving tool and be able to apply it for solving math and logical problems. (1, 6)

• Be able to test and debug programs written in C using standard debugging tools and techniques. (1, 4, 6)

• Be familiar with the concepts of object-oriented programming. (4)