Starting Computer Science Using C++ with Objects: A Workable Approach.

Saint Mary's College (Indiana) offers a minor program in computer science. The program's introductory computer science class traditionally taught Pascal. The decision to change the introductory programming language to C++ with an object oriented approach was made when it became clear that there were good texts available for beginning students. Many students do not begin their study of computer science with a strong ability to handle symbolic languages and abstraction. Students moving to the data structures course, which is taught using an object oriented paradigm, have found the paradigm shift difficult even without a change of programming language. Accomplishments and problems were experienced during the first two offerings of the revised class. The students enjoyed using C++ and appreciated the experience of a real world programming environment. From the student point of view, object oriented programming is just as "natural" as function oriented programming, and it was not difficult to implement the basic themes of the introductory computer science course using C++. Using C++ with objects in the introductory computer science course is effective, provides an experience needed in the market place, and has positive benefits for the rest of the computer science curriculum. The paper also describes the selection of an introductory textbook and compiler program. (Contains 13 references.) (Author/SWC)