Monash University > School of Computer Science and Software Engineering > CSE1303 > Prerequisite knowledge

CSE1303 Computer Science
Semester 2, 2003
Prerequisite knowledge

The following topics you should already know from CSE1301 or an equivalent subject. Unless marked with an asterisk (*), they will not be covered again in CSE1303.

C

• Structure of a C program
• types
  • int
  • long
  • float
  • double
  • char
  • arrays
    • * relationship to pointers
    • strings as char []
    • multi-dimensional arrays
      • arrays of arrays
  • structures
    • as implementation of ADT
  • * pointers
    • * strings as char *
  • typedef
• preprocessor
  • #define
  • #include
    • standard library (<header.h>)
• declarations and definitions
• variables and identifiers
• values
  • literals
    • char
      • '\0'
    • string
    • numeric
      • integer
      • floating point
    • NULL
• expressions and operators
  • precedence
  • arithmetic (+ - / % *)
  • comparison (< == > <= >= !=)
  • boolean (! && ||)
  • auto-increment and auto-decrement (++ --)
  • assignment (= += -= ...)
  • * dereference (*)
  • * address (&)
  • array access ([])
  • * struct access (. ->)
• functions
  • prototypes
  • calling
    • passing parameters
      • pass by value
      • * pass by reference
        • * arrays pass by reference implicitly
  • returning
  • standard library functions
    • header files
    • I/O operations
      • printf
      • scanf
      • fgets
    • string operations
  • recursion
• Control structures
  • selection
    • if/else
  • iteration
    • while
    • for
  • break
• comments

Data representation and data structures

• characters
  • as numbers (ASCII)
• numbers
  • binary representation of integers
    • unsigned
    • addition

Algorithms

• representing
  • pseudocode
  • flowcharts
• components
  • values
  • variables
  • sequences of instructions
  • functions
    • calling
    • parameters/arguments
    • return values
    • scope
      • local variables
    • * pass by value/reference
    • recursion
      • comparison with iteration
      • * n-ary recursion
  • arrays
    • multi-dimensional arrays
  • selection
    • if/else
  • iteration
    • pre-tested loops (while, for)
    • definite iteration ("for")
  • documentation
• design
  • software development cycle
  • flow diagrams
  • debugging
  • test data
• analysis
  • complexity (time and space)
• specific algorithms
  • on arrays
    • linear search
    • sort
      • selection (no code)
      • insertion (no code)
    • binary search (no code)

Software Engineering

• tools
  • structure charts
  • data flow diagrams
• concepts
  • coupling
  • modularity
  • prototyping
  • cohesion
  • data representation
  • shared data
  • testing
    • test harnesses
  • system integration
• algorithm design
  • modular development
  • quality
  • principles of design
  • principles of production
• working in teams
  • group projects

Program environment

• operating system
• streams
  • standard input
  • standard output
  • standard error
• files
  • sequential nature
  • opening and closing files (fopen fclose)
  • reading from and writing to
  • end of file
    • testing for EOF
  • file types
    • text
    • binary
• compiling
  • compilers and interpreters
  • source files
  • executable files

Last modified 2003-07-08