Notes on Computer Project #2
----------------------------

Comments about the project and responses to frequently asked questions will be
added to this file as necessary.

***** comments added on 01/17/12 *****

1) Please note the following statement from the project handout:

  The deliverables for this assignment are the following files:

    proj02.problem1.cpp  -- your C++ source code for Problem #1
    proj02.problem2.cpp  -- your C++ source code for Problem #2

  Be sure to use the specified file names, and to submit your files for
  grading via the "handin" system.

Please note the "handin" system will not accept any file name which does not
fit the specified pattern.

Please note that it is possible to submit a particular file multiple times:
the last version of the file that you submit will be graded.

2) The coding standard for CSE 232 computer projects is published in the
coursepack (pages 6-7) and is available under the "General" directory on the
course website.  The first three examples in the coursepack (pages 19-21) meet
the coding standard, but some of the "demo" programs do not (for example, the
source code on page 22 does not use mnemonic identifiers and does not include
appropriate comments).

3) To access "adriatic" remotely, I would recommend using the SSH network
protocol.  Many personal computers already have a "ssh" package installed
(Linux and Mac OS systems), or you can download and install a free package for
Windows systems from the CSE Facilities web pages:

  http://www.cse.msu.edu/facility/software/

The CSE Facilities web pages also have a brief tutorial about using "ssh":

  http://www.cse.msu.edu/facility/howto/ssh/

Additional comments about accessing the CSE system are available on the
course website:

  http://www.cse.msu.edu/~cse232/General/system.hints

There are other methods for remotely accessing "adriatic", but "ssh" is one of
the most convenient.

4) You'll use an editor to create and modify your source code files.  Two
popular editors in the Linux environment are "vim" and "emacs".

Page 10 of the coursepack has a brief overview of "emacs" (that document is
also available on the course website).  To learn more about "emacs", you might
wish to complete to review the following document:

  http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/tour/

Page 11 of the coursepack has a brief overview of "vim" (that document is also
available on the course website).

5) Please recall that C++ is a strongly typed language, and that every data
object must be given a type when it is declared.

Also, please recall that the type of an intermediate expression depends on the
type of the data objects being used in the expression, and that there are
specific rules for mixed-type expressions and type conversions.

6) As noted on the handout, you are not required to check any of the input
values for user errors.  That is, you may assume that the user enters a valid
value in response to all prompts.

Thus, you only need to use sequential execution to solve the problems in this
project (you don't need to use selective or repetitive execution).

7) Please note that page 18 of the coursepack provides an overview of the math
library, which contains functions such as "cos" and "acos".  More information
about those library functions is available in the Appendix C of the Nyhoff
textbook and on-line via the "man" utility.

For example, "man cos" produces the following:

  SYNOPSIS
    #include <math.h>
    double cos(double x);

  DESCRIPTION
    The cos() function returns the cosine of x, where x is given in radians.

  RETURN VALUE
    The cos() function returns a value between -1 and 1.

Note that the trigonometric functions work with angles measured in radians.

8) Please note that you must control the number of fractional digits which
are displayed in Problem #2.  The following statement will cause floating
point values inserted into the output stream to be displayed in fixed point
notation with two decimal places of accuracy:

  cout << setiosflags(ios::fixed) << setprecision(2);

That statement should appear before any other operations on the output stream.

9) The instructional staff will use input redirection to test your solutions
to Project #2 (it would be impractical to have a human repeatedly type the
same input values for each student's solutions).

That is, we'll translate and execute your solution to Problem #1 using
something similar to the following:

  g++ proj02.problem1.cpp
  a.out < test1
  a.out < test2
  a.out < test3
  a.out < test4

Each of the "test" files will contain a different set of input values.

You may wish to test your solutions in a similar way so that you can be sure
that your output has a reasonable appearance, regardless of whether the input
comes from the keyboard or is redirected from a file.

One note:  input typed at the keyboard is automatically "echo printed", but
input redirected from a file is not.  You may wish to insert newlines after
each input operation and to echo print all input values.  For example:

  cout << "Please enter an integer: ";
  cin >> N;
  cout << endl;
  cout << "The value entered for N: << N << endl;

The third line prints a blank line after the input operation, and the fourth
line echo prints the input value.

--M. McCullen