Focus of the course topics is on the fundamentals of programming, problem solving, and software design.  Models of applications from the areas of gaming, business, science and mathematics are presented throughout the course.

1.  Introduction to C++
   1.  Coverage of topics by instructors should include the components of programs such as key words, variables, operators, and punctuation.  Programming design tools, such as pseudocode, flowcharts, and hierarchy charts are presented. 
   2. Students should be guided through C++ data types, identifiers, variable declarations, constants, comments, program output, simple arithmetic operations, and C-string.  Programming style conventions and good programming style are modeled.  The differences between ANSI standard and pre-standard C++ are explained.  Students learn to write programs that input and handle numeric, character, and C-string data.  The use of arithmetic operators and the creation of mathematical expressions are covered in detail, with emphasis on operator precedence.
2.  Decision Structures
   1. Relational operators, relational expressions and how to control the flow of a program with the if, if/else, and if/else if statements are explained.  Crucial applications of the conditional operator and the switch statement are covered, such as menu-driven programs and the validation of input. 
3. . Iteration Structures
   1. Repetition control structures, such as the while loop, do-while loop, and for loop are taught, along with the common uses for these structures.  Counters, accumulators, running totals, sentinels, and other application-related topics are modeled. 
4.  Functions
   1. Students learn how and why to modularize programs, using both void and value returning functions.  Argument passing is covered, with emphasis on when arguments should be passed by value versus when they need to be passed by reference.  Scope of variables is covered along with a discussion of local versus global variables and static local variables.  Overloaded functions are introduced and demonstrated.
5. . Arrays
   1. Students are guided through the creation of single and multidimensional arrays.  Examples of array processing are provided including examples illustrating how to find the sum, average, highest and lowest values in an array and how to sum the rows, columns, and all elements of a two-dimensional array.  Programming techniques using parallel arrays are demonstrated and students are shown how to use a data file as an input source to populate an array.  STL vectors are introduced and compared to arrays.  The bubble sort, selection sort, linear search, and binary search algorithms are modeled.
6.  Pointers
   1.  Students are introduced to pointers.  Pointers are compared to and contrasted with reference variables.  The topics of pointer arithmetic, initialization of pointers, relational comparison of pointers, pointers and arrays, pointers and functions, and dynamic memory allocation are discussed.
7.  Structured Data
   1. Students are introduced to abstract data types and how to create them using structures, unions, and enumerated data types.  Discussions and examples include using pointer to structures, passing structures to functions, and returning structures from functions.
8.  File and I/0 Operations
   1. Sequential access, random access, text, and binary file use is modeled.  The various modes for opening files are discussed, as well as the many methods for reading and writing file contents.  Advanced output formatting is also covered.
9.   Classes
   1. The object-oriented paradigm is introduced.  Member variables and functions are discussed.  The student learns about private and public access specifications, and reasons to use each.  The topics of constructors, overloaded constructors, and destructors are presented.  Modeling classes with UML, and how to define the classes in a particular problem is discussed.

Students are also assigned reading, writing, and other outside assignments equivalent to two hours per one hour lecture.