ENCM 339 Fall 2001 Midterm Information

Contents

• Test Time and Location
• Test Topics
• Test Format
• Reference Material
• Library functions
• Suggestions for preparation

The test rooms are EN E 241 and EN E 243. (These are lecture theatres in E Block of the Engineering Building.) Students registered in lecture section L01 (Dr. Norman's section, MWF 11:00) will write the test in EN E 241, and students registered in lecture section L02 (Dr. Moussavi's section, MWF 8:00) will write the test in EN E 243.

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The test will focus mainly on topics that were heavily emphasized in lectures and labs. We are not going to make a lot of marks depend on topics that were given very little coverage in lectures and labs.

The test will cover all material up to and including Lab 7 and the lecture of Friday, Nov. 2, with the following exceptions:

• You will not have to worry about field width, precision, etc., when doing output of numbers with printf in C or with cout in C++.
• You will not have to know about reading several different values in a single scanf call, as in

    nscan = scanf("%d:%d.%d", &minutes, &seconds, &tenths);
        

• You will not have to answers questions about using Linux or Emacs.

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• the test is closed-book--you are not allowed to take any books or notes to your seat;
• you are not allowed to use a calculator or computer during the test.

The test will consist of many short questions. Questions will be of the following types:

• You will have to write function definitions or other short segments of C or C++ to do specific tasks. In each case it will be clearly stated which of C or C++ you must use.
• You will have to draw diagrams and/or predict program output to show that you know how a given program works.
• You may have to write very short paragraphs (roughly two or three sentences) to show that you understand key terms and concepts from the course.

You will write all of your answers on the question paper, in spaces provided for answers.

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• The file SimpleString.h from Lab 6 Exercise E and the file SimpleString.cpp from the solution to that exercise.

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You are expected to know the various possible outcomes of the following statement in C:

  nscan = scanf("%d", &x);

You are also expected to know how to use the C++ expressions cin.fail() and cin.eof().

If you are asked to use any other library functions, such as functions from <math.h>, you will be given documentation for the functions you need.

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• Review lecture notes and course handouts carefully. The handouts related to memory organization are especially important. Many of the `Read This First' sections in lab handouts contain useful information.
• Re-do lab exercises using pencil and paper, especially those exercises that you found difficult when you first did them. Practice writing complete function definitions with pencil and paper--writing code by hand is a bit different from typing code in a text editor, and it's obviously an important skill to develop for tests and exams.
• Use the textbook to get background information when you find a particular topic difficult. Do not attempt to memorize all the textbook sections listed in your lecture notes as related reading--that is a very ineffective way to use your time.

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