Repo exploration for overloading ops in C++ Activity
| Title | Exploring a C++ GitHub repository to learn about operator overloading (page in progress) |
| Overview | Student will search a repo to find a specific class that implements infinite precision arithmetic and answer questions about it |
| Prerequisite Knowledge | Basic CS1 background, including basic C++ class programming concepts |
| Learning Objectives | The student should be able to search GitHub repositories in general; to read code and understand enough to know what overloaded operators do; to understand what inline functions are and when it is appropriate to use them; and to understand the advantages of using overloaded C++ operators and how to create them. |
Contents |
Background:
The problem that this activity attempts to solve is how to introduce basic FOSS concepts to CS2 students in the context of learning about CS2-specific topics.
Before this activity is assigned, the students should be introduced to the concepts of online repositories, free and open source software, and to a very limited extent, the use of GitHub. It is not really necessary to know how to use the version control features of GitHub for this activity because the students are not cloning code or uploading it. They can do this activity entirely by browsing the code on-line.
In terms of their coding knowledge, they should know how to read C++ class interfaces and implementation files, know how to read C++ function definitions, and be able to write C++ programs that use classes. One of the questions asks them to examine a function that is recursive, without stating that it is recursive, and gets them to discover this. Students who have been introduced to recursive C++ functions will have a different response from those who have not.
Students will be given specific reading materials before starting this project, including:
populate this lists here!!
Directions:
Students should be told that, as they do all of these exercises, they should write the answers to all questions in the form provided. The instructor should create a template form to simplify grading and assessment of student responses.
1. ITK (Insight Segmentation and Registration Toolkit) is an open-source, cross-platform system that provides developers with an extensive suite of software tools for image analysis. You can learn more about it from its website, https://itk.org . Find the page on this website that has a link to the Software Guide. Write down how many pages are in the latest Software Guide.
2. The source code for ITK is available on GitHub https://github.com/. Go to the GitHub website and find the ITK repository. Write down how you found the download page for the repository.
3. The developers of ITK decided that it was advantageous to create classes that implement infinite precision numbers. They distinguished between infinite precision decimal numbers and infinite precision integers. Find the interface file (header file) for the class that implements infinite precision numbers with decimal arithmetic. Provide answers to the following questions: What is the name of the header file? What is the name of the class? Who authored this code? When was it last modified?
Deliverables:
The student will hand in a completed form containing the answers to the given questions.
Assessment:
How will the activity be graded?
How will learning will be measured?
Include sample assessment questions/rubrics.
| Criteria | Level 1 (fail) | Level 2 (pass) | Level 3 (good) | Level 4 (exceptional) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criterion 1... | ||||
| Criterion 2... |
Comments:
What should the instructor know before using this activity?
What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?
Additional Information:
| ACM Knowledge Area/Knowledge Unit | What ACM Computing Curricula 2013 knowledge area and units does this activity cover? ACM_Body_of_Knowledge |
| ACM Topic | What specific topics are addressed? The Computing Curriucula 2013 provides a list of topics - https://www.acm.org/education/CS2013-final-report.pdf |
| Level of Difficulty | Is this activity easy, medium or challenging? |
| Estimated Time to Completion | How long should it take for the student to complete the activity? |
| Materials/Environment | What does the student need? Internet access, IRC client, Git Hub account, LINUX machine, etc.? |
| Author(s) | Who wrote this activity? |
| Source | Is there another activity on which this activity is based? If so, please provide a link to the original resource. |
| License | Under which license is this material made available? (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/) |
Suggestions for Open Source Community:
Suggestions for an open source community member who is working in conjunction with the instructor.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
