7 replies to this topic

[TkTech]

Hey guys! I know a lot of you are currently in high school or university and enrolled in a computer sciences class, so I have a favour to ask. I'm trying to create a comprehensive FAQ of sorts covering many common topics and questions asked in your day to day computer sciences class. I'd love to hear about anything you've had to do in your class, and I can even help if you're having trouble with it (or there may be a better way to do it :-P)

I've also tried to answer all of the recent posts on CC in the C/C++ section that aren't ridiculous, but if you see a post that could use a better answer, or an old thread you want revisited, post those too!

Edit: added a list

• Algorithims (notation, sets, sorting (eg. Qsort)) - dargueta

Edited by TkTech, 30 October 2009 - 12:31 PM.

[dargueta]

When I was in high school, a large portion of people in my CS class had issues with sorting algorithms. Perhaps you could talk about that.

[TkTech]

Excellent idea, added to the list. My iPhone can lt scroll the text box, but someone requested a basic guide to getting started with ODE

[ZekeDragon]

Mine:
"How do I run my compiler from the command line (choose some of the popular ones)?"
"How do I tell my program not to instantly close when I run my program from an IDE?"
"How can I run my program on the command line (include Java, Python, etc)?"
"What is the difference between #ifndef/#define and #pragma once?"
"What are the differences between stack and heap allocation? What do each of these mean?"
(C++) "How can I change private variables or private functions within an object without recompiling each file that uses that object?"
"What is a forward declaration and why should I use one?"
"What is garbage collection? How does it benefit me and what are it's costs?"
"How do I open files for reading or writing?"
"How do make directories and files?"
"Why is it so difficult to program cross-platform?"

Difficult to answer questions:
"How do I make a game?"
"How do I make my own programming language?"
"How do I write a parser?"
"How do I know when I'm a good programmer?"

Courtesy of f0nd1:
"What is the output of 'printf("%d");'?"
"What is encapsulation?"
"What is a thread?"
"What is ADL?"
(C++) "Why can't I separate template/inline function delcaration from it's definition?"
"What is the purpose of volatile and how does it work?"
"What is volatile after function declaration 'int f() volatile'?
"What is serialization/deserialization?"
(C/C++) "Can the main function be static?"
(C/C++) "What is an extern function?"
"What is an incomplete data type?"
"What is ADT?"
"What is a dangling pointer?"
"What is stack unwinding?"
"What actually happens when an exception is thrown?"
"What happens when an exception remains uncaught?"
"What happens when you throw an exception outside of a destructor or constructor?"
(C++) "How do you overload the new/delete operators?"
(C++) "What is placement new/delete and what is their real-world application?"
(C++) "What is the difference between new operator and operator new?"
(C++) "What is a virtual table (vtable) and where does it go in the resulting executable?"
"What is virtual inheritance?"
"It seems that there is a problem constructing a virtual base class from it`s derivation, how do I do this correctly?"
"What is a proxy object?"
"Does friend class/function violate encapsulation or enhance it?
"What are the different kinds of storage duration?"
(C++) "What is the difference between #include <cstdio> and #include <stdio.h>?"
"What is the purpose of namespaces?"

(part 2 later when I've found some more specific ones...)

[TkTech]

Holy flip, thanks Zeke!

[TkTech]

And some more from f0nd1:

like ADL
RAII
here are some frequently asked questions in C++:
what is .template syntax?
what is the difference between typename and class?
what is template template paramaters?
why does inline function definition cannot be seperate from its implementation?
what is the pimpl idiom (it has nothing to do with sex lol )
what is the export keyword?
what is exception safe code?
what is polymorphism, encapsulation, information hiding and code reuse?
does friend classes/function violate encapsulation?
what is template non-type argument? what is the sort of linkage it has?
what is internal/external linkage?
what is volatile variable? can variable be both const and variable at the same time?
how to declare and use pointer to member functions?

[dargueta]

Another good topic: Multiple inheritance and the Diamond of Doom.

[marwex89]

For C++ (and C99 to some extent) I guess const correctness, maybe?