The final course in the specialization Introduction to Programming in C will teach you powerful new programming techniques for interacting with the user and the system and dynamically allocating memory. You will learn more sophisticated uses for pointers, such as strings and multidimensional arrays, as well as how to write programs that read and write files and take input from the user. Learning about dynamic memory allocation will allow your programs to perform complex tasks that will be applied in the final part of the specialization project: a Monte Carlo simulation for calculating poker hand probabilities.
This course is part of the Introduction to Programming in C Specialization
Interacting with the System and Managing Memory
Offered By
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
1Module 1: Interacting with the user and system
So far, our programs have had a rather limited interaction with the user or rest of the system, printing some results to standard output (typically to the terminal). Now that we have learned about topics such as strings and arrays, we are ready to learn how to write a program that takes input from the user, takes arguments on the command line, accesses files, and does many other things we typically think of real programs as doing.
5 videos (Total 16 min), 16 readings, 5 quizzes
5 videos
Reading a File with fgetc4m
Reading a File with fgets5m
Writing to a File2m
Closing a File2m
16 readings
Assignment 24_read_arr330m
Introduction to the Operating System10m
Errors from System Calls10m
Command Line Arguments10m
Complex Option Processing10m
The Environment Pointer10m
Process Creation10m
Opening a File10m
Reading a File10m
Reading a File with fgets10m
Reading a File with fread10m
Assignment 25_break_encrm
Writing to Files10m
Closing Files10m
Other Interactions10m
Assignments 26_tests_matrix_input and 27_matrix_inputm
5 practice exercises
The Operating System6m
Command Line Arguments and Process Creation6m
Opening Files and fgetc6m
Reading encryption.c6m
Writing and Closing Files8m
Week
2Module 2: Dynamic allocation
So far, most of the memory we have used has been located on the stack. Dynamic memory allocation gives a programmer much more flexibility, in that it allows you to request a specific amount memory to be allocated on the heap, so that it will not disappear with the stack frame of the calling function.
7 videos (Total 24 min), 19 readings, 5 quizzes
7 videos
Mechanics of free2m
Code with a Memory Leak2m
Three Common Problems When Using free1m
Call to realloc4m
Reading a File with getline5m
Combining getline and realloc4m
19 readings
Motivation for Dynamic Allocation10m
malloc10m
Fixing initArray10m
More Complex Structures10m
Shallow vs. Deep Copying10m
free10m
Memory Leaks10m
A Dynamic Memory Allocation Analogy10m
Common Problems with free10m
realloc10m
getline10m
Valgrind's Memcheck10m
Uninitialized Values10m
Invalid Reads and Writes10m
Valgrind with GDB10m
Dynamic Allocation Issues10m
memcheck.h3m
Other Valgrind Tools3m
Assignments 28_fix_vg_encr, 29_outname, 30_sort_lines, and 31_minesweeperm
5 practice exercises
malloc6m
free8m
realloc4m
getline8m
Valgrind's Memcheck20m
Week
3Module 3: Programming in the Large
So far, we have focused exclusively on programming in the small—designing the algorithm for a small-sized task, implementing it, testing it, and debugging it. This module discusses three main differences that "real" programs exhibit. 1) They tend to be much larger than those we have written. 2) More than one person works on them, sometimes teams of hundreds to thousands. 3) Real software has a long life-span during which it must be maintained. Now that you have an understanding of the basics of programming in the small, we are ready to begin learning about programming in the large!
2 videos (Total 6 min), 21 readings, 2 quizzes
21 readings
Analogy to Writing10m
Abstraction3m
The Seven-Item Limit10m
Hierarchical Abstraction10m
Readability2m
Function Size2m
Naming4m
Formatting10m
Commenting and Documentation10m
Team Considerations5m
Git2m
Past Versions5m
Collaboration3m
Multiple Versions of the Present5m
Read More2m
Problem Description5m
Planning the High-Level Algorithm7m
Writing and Testing readInput10m
Finishing the Program10m
Even Larger Programs5m
Assignments 32_kvs, 33_counts, and 34_put_togetherm
2 practice exercises
Abstraction6m
Readability6m
Week
4Module 4: Poker Project
In this module, you will complete the Poker Project! Now that you know about dynamic memory allocation, user input, and how to program in the large, you can write the final parts of the program. You will write code to read in a file with a hand of cards and code to choose unknown cards from a shuffled deck. As you program with more sophisticated data structures, the importance of drawing good pictures will increase. Happy programming!
1 video (Total 4 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
1 video
1 reading
Poker Project: Final Partm
Instructors
Andrew D. Hilton
Associate Professor of the PracticeElectrical and Computer Engineering
Anne Bracy
Senior LecturerComputer Science, Cornell University
Genevieve M. Lipp
Adjunct ProfessorElectrical and Computer Engineering/Mechanical Engineering
About Duke University
Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.
About the Introduction to Programming in C Specialization
This specialization develops strong programming fundamentals for learners who want to solve complex problems by writing computer programs. Through four courses, you will learn to develop algorithms in a systematic way and read and write the C code to implement them. This will prepare you to pursue a career in software development or other computational fields.
Successful completion of this Specialization will be considered by admissions as a demonstration of your skill and enhance your master’s application to Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering.
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