Week 2. At a Glance

You have finished the first week of learning how to program in C++. By now, you should feel comfortable entering programs, using your compiler, and thinking about objects, classes, and program flow.

Where You Are Going

Week 2 begins with pointers. Pointers are traditionally a difficult subject for new C++ programmers, but you will find them explained fully and clearly, and they should not be a stumbling block. On Day 9, “Exploiting References,” you will learn about references, which are a close cousin to pointers. On Day 10, “Working with Advanced Functions,” you will see how to overload functions.

Day 11, “Object-Oriented Analysis and Design,” is a departure: Rather than focusing on the syntax of the language, you will take a day out to learn about object-oriented analysis and design. On Day 12, “Implementing Inheritance,” you will be introduced to inheritance, a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming. On Day 13, “Managing Arrays and Strings,” you will learn how to work with arrays and collections. Day 14, “Polymorphism,” extends the lessons of Day 12 to discuss polymorphism.