Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE CPS1011

 
TITLE Programming Principles in C

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Computer Science

 
DESCRIPTION This unit is intended as a first programming course and takes the student step by step through a number of fundamental concepts including basic language constructs (assignment, branching and loops) and data types, abstract data types, dynamic memory management, preprocessor directives, debugging and library linking.The unit will also cover techniques for efficient and effective debugging.

Study-unit Aims:

The aim of this study-unit is that of introducing the students to the basic concepts of programming in terms of the C programming language, a language that sits at the right level so as to give the student important exposure to concepts such as memory management through pointers and the associated intricacies associated with such constructs. C also happens to be the lingua franca of systems programming.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

Given a problem requiring a computational solution:
- Design, implement and test procedural programs while choosing appropriate language constructs and algorithms including I/O operations in order to solve it;
- Emply structured design principles and the utilization of appropriate abstraction mechanisms to produce maintainable code.

2. Skills:
By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

Given a program to author or maintain:
- Describe how C source code is executed by a computer (Runtime semantics);
- Describe an algorithm (sequence of steps) that solves a problem and identify the appropriate C programming language constructs for encoding it an maintainable and reusable form (Automation);
- Test the programe to determine whether it solves the problem(Correctness).

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Testbook:

- C Primer Plus (6th edition). Stephen Prata. Addison-Wesley, 2013. ISBN 978-0321928429

References:

- The C Programming Language. BW Kernighan, DM Ritchie. Prentice-Hall, 1988. ISBN 0-13-110362-8
- Expert C Programming: Deep C Secrets. Peter van der Linden. Prentice Hall, 1994. ISBN 978-0131774292

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Independent Study, Practicum & Tutorial

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Examination (2 Hours) SEM1 Yes 100%

 
LECTURER/S Neville Grech (Co-ord.)

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit