Fine Points of C++ Pointers:
Dumb, Smart, and Smarter
 
Course Announcement and Syllabus

General Information

• This course is a 150-minute seminar aimed at programmers with at least some C++ programming experience.
• The next offering is on Thursday, April 10, 2008, in Wilson Hall's One West (WH1W) from 1:00 until 3:30 P.M.
• No tuition is charged; there is no cost to attend.
• Once your supervisor approves, you may register online for this Course.
• Any questions? Special circumstances? Registration difficulty? Just .
• The current version of this Course Announcement and Syllabus is available at http://home.fnal.gov/~wb/CppPointers.html.

Objectives

• To review traditional C++ pointer manipulation, and pointers' role in dynamic memory management.
• To treat dynamic memory management as a special case of the more general resource management problem.
• To learn best-practice techniques of resource management in modern standard C++, and to prepare for related new techniques that will become available in the next C++ standard.

Prerequisite Knowledge

• A good understanding of basic computer organization (e.g., CPU, memory, peripherals) is a necessity.
• Prior exposure to fundamental C++ programming concepts (such as those presented in Fermilab’s annual Accelerated C++ Short Course) is strongly recommended.
• Knowledge of software analysis and design methodology is not a prerequisite, but is certainly beneficial when problem-solving via C++ technology.

Methodology

• This course is designed as a professional development experience emphasizing effective computer programming in modern standard C++.
• The class format is lecture-based, but incorporates considerable flexibility for interaction regarding any points of special interest to attendees.
• Neither homework nor laboratory activities are required, there are no tests, and no grades are issued. However, experience has shown that best comprehension of the material is obtained by attendees who actively participate and who invest in practice time outside of class.

Schedule

• The class session will be held in Wilson Hall's One West (WH1W) from 1:00 until 3:30 P.M. on Thursday, April 10, 2008.
• Verbatim recording in any form is not permitted, so please bring appropriate materials for note-taking.
• Verified attendance earns Fermilab TRAIN credit for this Selected Topics Seminar.

Instructor

, Ph.D.   Office: WH9W.923.   Voice: +1 (630) 840-2784. A member of Fermilab´s Computing Division, Walter Brown has been programming in C++ for 25 years. He has taught C++ in both academic and industrial settings, and actively participates in the international C++ standardization effort as Fermilab's representative. He is the recipient of a Fermilab Technology Award for his work in designing and implementing SIunits: the Library of Unit-Based Computation, a C++ library that encompasses the rules of the International System of Units (SI). He is author of A Proposal to Add Mathematical Special Functions to the C++ Standard Library, one of many papers and proposals he has written to make C++ even more useful to numerically-oriented programming communities.

Resources for Participants

• Your instructor makes available:
  • This Selected Topics Course Announcement and Syllabus, and
  • Additional book recommendations for C++ programmers at all levels.
• Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup, the designer and original implementor of the C++ programming language, maintains:
  • A C++ Glossary, as well as
  • A C++ Style and Technique FAQ.
• Boost provides free peer-reviewed portable C++ source libraries of general utility, usable across a broad spectrum of applications.
• The Fermilab Physics Class Library Task Force (known informally as Zoom) provides a number of C++ libraries of general utility.
• SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.), former employer of the Standard Template Library´s originator Alexander Stepanov, provides STL documentation (as well as an introduction to generic programming).
• Dinkumware, Ltd., provides an online reference to the C++ standard library.
• Herb Sutter, well-known author, maintains an archive of several dozens of C++ coding puzzles and quizzes.
• Stephen C. Dewhurst, well-known consultant and author, publishes brief online articles that "are designed to provide essential, common knowledge that every professional C++ programmer needs to know."
• Finally, you are welcome to with your question about C++ or about the Course.