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CM10227: Principles of programming 1

[Page last updated: 27 October 2020]

Follow this link for further information on academic years Academic Year: 2020/1
Further information on owning departmentsOwning Department/School: Department of Computer Science
Further information on credits Credits: 12      [equivalent to 24 CATS credits]
Further information on notional study hours Notional Study Hours: 240
Further information on unit levels Level: Certificate (FHEQ level 4)
Further information on teaching periods Period:
Semester 1
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Summary: CW 50%, EX 50%
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 50% - Qualifying Mark: 40)
  • Examination (EX 50% - Qualifying Mark: 40)
Further information on supplementary assessment Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Further information on requisites Requisites:
Description: Aims:
To introduce students to the development of computer software, including problem analysis, establishing requirements, designing, implementing and evaluating.
To provide students with the terminology and concepts of programming, irrespective of the language being used.
To provide practical skills at reading and writing programs and producing programs to solve real world problems.
To make students feel confident about programming in the taught languages and about being able to learn different programming languages and programming paradigms.

Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Describe the design of a computer program separately from its implementation.
2. Explain the basic concepts of procedural and object orientated programming in the design and implementation of computer programs.
3. Explain debugging and testing methods and how they contribute to robust code
4. Design, construct and evaluate simple data structures and algorithms.
5. Plan, organise and implement program code to support reuse and maintainability of the software (project).

Skills:
Use of IT (T/F,A), Problem Solving (T/F,A), Communication (T/F,A), Critical thinking (T/F,A).

Content:
An introduction to a programming language such as Java or Python.
An introduction to program development environments such as eclipse.
Procedural Control: Introduction to procedural system development. Discussion of control structures: sequence, selection, iteration and recursion.
Objects: Introduction to object-oriented system development. Introduction of objects and classes, inheritance and polymorphism. Comparison of procedural and object programming.
Introductions to scope and extent, abstract data types. Design methods for such systems.
Systems engineering and design methods, such as Object/Class diagrams, UML, iterative software development, code reuse and software maintenance.
Testing and debugging: unit testing, tracing by hand, print statements, etc.
Data Organisation: Basic data structures: lists, stacks and queues. Basic search and sorting algorithms for these data structures. Files and streams. Data handling.
Further information on programme availabilityProgramme availability:

CM10227 is a Designated Essential Unit on the following programmes:

Department of Computer Science
  • USCM-AFB06 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAB07 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKB07 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science with Year long work placement (Year 1)
  • USCM-AFB27 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAB27 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKB27 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with Year long work placement (Year 1)
  • USCM-AFB20 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAB20 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKB20 : BSc(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics with Year long work placement (Year 1)
  • USCM-AFM01 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAM02 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKM02 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science with Year long work placement (Year 1)
  • USCM-AFM27 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAM27 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKM27 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with Year long work placement (Year 1)
  • USCM-AFM14 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics (Year 1)
  • USCM-AAM14 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics with Study year abroad (Year 1)
  • USCM-AKM14 : MComp(Hons) Computer Science and Mathematics with Year long work placement (Year 1)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2020/21 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2021/22 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2020/21.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.