Should I omit CSC 108 and only take CSC 148?

To omit CSC 108 and take only CSC 148, you should be able to write object-oriented programs, including your own classes. It is also expected that you know how to program in Java, which is the language that is used in CSC 148.

Topics

If you are considering omitting CSC 108 and taking CSC 148, then you should know the following topics:

• Writing, compiling and running programs.
  You should know how to write Java classes. You should be able to compile and run your programs.
• Import Declarations (i.e., import javax.swing.*;)
• Primitive expressions and variables (int, double, char, boolean)
• You should be familiar with the Java API
• Classes
  • You should be able to write classes and use existing classes.
  • Constructors
  • this
  • Members (public or private)
  • static
  • subclasses
• Naming Conventions
• Testing (in particular, using JUnit)
• Variable declarations, initializationsa andassignments
• String, StringTokenizer
• boolean expressions
• if statements
• while loops, for loops
• One and two dimensional arrays
• GUIs in Java (i.e., getting user input from a window)
• Searching algorithms
• Sorting algorithms
• Overloading methods
• Inheritance
• Polymorphism

Exercises

In order to take CSC 148, you will need a strong programming background and you should be able to complete ALL of the following exercises, using your favourite programming language. Note: you will be expected to write programs more complicated than these in Java at the beginning of CSC 148.

1. In 15 minutes or less, write and debug a program to read a list of numbers and then print all the numbers, with an asterisk beside the largest one.
2. A palindrome is a word that reads the same forward as it does backwards. Examples of palindromes are hannah, bob, did, peep and noon. Write and debug a program that takes a word (as a string) and returns true if the word is a palindrome, and returns false otherwise. (You can assume that a word that is a single character is a palindrome.)
3. Write and debug a program that takes a list of characters, and prints the elements with even indices on a single line with a space between characters.

Quiz

If you think that you know most of these topics and you can do the exercises, then you may want to take the quiz below to test your knowledge. It order to omit CSC 108H and take only CSC 148H, it is not enough to have just heard of these topics. You should thouroughly understand the topics and be able to apply them. Try the quiz (give yourself 1 point for each correct answer):

public class Example {     
    public static void main (String[] args) {        
        int x;        
        ObscureType y = new ObscureType (3);        
        x = y.action();        
        System.out.println ("Result = " + x);
    }
}

class ObscureType {     
    public int data;     
    public ObscureType (int value) {        
        data = value;
    }     
    public int action () {        
        int i = 0;        
        int sum = 0;        
        while (i <= data) {           
            sum = sum + i;           
            i = i + 1;
        }        
        return sum;
    }
}

Scoring

Give yourself 1 point for each correct answer.

• 6 to 7: You are probably ready to take CSC 148.
• 4 to 5: If you take CSC 148 without 108 first, be prepared for extra work.
• 3 or fewer: You should take CSC 108 before trying 148.

If you know the topics and you have done well on the exercises and quiz, then you may want to omit CSC 108H and take CSC 148H.

If you are not famililar with these topics or if you did not do well on the quiz, then you should take CSC 108H.