COS132

Imperative Programming
Lecture 1.1
(Week 1, Lecture 1)

Admin matters

Tuesday 7 Feb 2016

Group 5: 08:30 – 9:20 (IT 4-4)...........
Group 4: 12:30 – 13:20 (Centenary 2)
 What is Imperative Programming?
• What does ‘Imperative’ mean?
– synonyms: words that mean the same thing: (MSWord Thesaurus)
• very important vital crucial
• essential necessary

• What does ‘Programming’ mean?

– construction of a computer program
– Program = a set of instructions for performing specified
computation tasks.
– Computation = processing of numeric, text data (values)

• So, Imperative computer programming covers

– the fundamental building blocks of computer programming.

2
 Course Websites (1)
• This course will make use of both the CS website as
well as ClickUP.

• 3.1 CS website: http://www.cs.up.ac.za/courses/COS132/

• The web site hosts the following content:

– Study guide
– Announcements.
– Specifications for assignments.
– Electronic submission of assignments.
– Online bookings.
– Marks.
– Lecture slides
3
 Course Websites (2)
• This course will make use of both the CS website as
well as ClickUP.

• ClickUP
• The ClickUP home page may be reached through the
usual UP Student portal.

• You can reach the COS132 ClickUP page by following the

COS132 link after you have logged in using the MyTUKS
login at http://www.up.ac.za/.

• The ClickUP page will only be used for self-evaluating

quizzes.
4
Instructors

5
 Study material (1)
Prescribed textbooks

Title: Starting Out With C++ From Control Structures

through Objects
Author: Tony Gaddis
Edition: Eighth Edition - Global Edition
Publisher: Pearson, ISBN: 978-1-29-206997-5

Title: Tricks of the Trade for Novice Programmers

Volume 1
Author: Vreda Pieterse
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: University of Pretoria, ISBN: 978-0-620-69499-5

6
 Study material (2)
Software
• You are required to use Linux for programming with C++.
You will need the following:
– A web browser – for Arch Linux we recommend Firefox
– A text editor – we recommend SciTE
– A compiler – we recommend GCC
– other software

• This software is installed on the workstations in the

computer labs.

• Guidelines about how to use the software can be found in

Chapter 6 of Tricks of the Trade for Novice Programmers Volume
1.

7
 Course Activities (1)
Lectures
• You may choose any four lectures and may mix attendance between
different groups,

• as long as you attend one of each (i.e. L1, L2, L3 and L4) of the
lectures every week.

• The following lectures will be presented in either Afrikaans (A) or

English (E):

Note: For Group 4, the venue for Lecture 2 (L2) on Wednesday which is
stated in the study guide is Centenary 2. This is WRONG.
The correct venue is Centenary 3. 8
 Course Activities (2)
Practical lab sessions
• Students are required to attend one of the following practical lab
sessions per week.

• You will need to book a specific practical session. Booking information

and venues will be given at the start of the semester.

Note: The duration of practical sessions is supposed to be 3 hours.

The duration of the Friday session 13:30-15:20 in the above table (and study
guide) is 2 hours.
This is WRONG. You should check the Announcements on the COS132
website for the up-to-date information.
9
 Assessment (1)
Semester Tests: 2 semester tests
• Tests will take place in the Engineering Test Weeks.
• The preliminary dates for the Semester Tests are as follows:

Semester mark calculation

10
 Assessment (2)
Examination
• The exam will take place during the scheduled exam period.

• Exam entrance will only be given to students who received a

semester mark of at least 30%.

• To pass the course, a student must obtain at least 40% in the exam,
and a final mark of at least 50%

• A student will pass the course with distinction if he/she passes the
course with a final mark of at least 75%.

11