CS 3520 — Programming in C++
4 semester hoursUndergraduateLectureusually offered: fall, spring, summertypical days: MBostonOnlineOnlineTraditional
Examines how to program in C++ in a robust and safe manner. Reviews basics, including scoping, typing, and primitive data structures. Discusses data types (primitive, array, structure, class, string); addressing/parameter mechanisms (value, pointer, reference); stacks; queues; linked lists; binary trees; hash tables; and the design of classes and class inheritance, emphasizing single inheritance. Considers the instantiation of objects, the trade-offs of stack vs. heap allocation, and the design of constructors and destructors. Emphasizes the need for a strategy for dynamic memory management. Addresses function and operator overloading; templates, the Standard Template Library (STL), and the STL components (containers, generic algorithms, iterators, adaptors, allocators, function objects); streams; exception handling; and system calls for processes and threads.
Prerequisites
Offering history
| Term | Sections | Enrolled | Capacity | Full | Open seats/section |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2023 | 2 | 135 | 146 | 92% | 5.5 |
| Spring 2024 | 1 | 56 | 58 | 97% | 2.0 |
| Summer A 2024 | 2 | 104 | 174 | 60% | 35.0 |
| Fall 2024 | 1 | 112 | 125 | 90% | 13.0 |
| Spring 2025 | 1 | 75 | 75 | 100% | 0.0 |
| Summer A 2025 | 1 | 73 | 100 | 73% | 27.0 |
| Summer B 2025 | 1 | 35 | 73 | 48% | 38.0 |
| Fall 2025 | 1 | 99 | 115 | 86% | 16.0 |
| Spring 2026 | 1 | 95 | 98 | 97% | 3.0 |
Snapshots from scheduled scrapes — not live seat availability. "Full" can exceed 100% when sections over-enroll.
Meeting times
Share of recent sections by weekday: M 59% · T 23% · W 17% · Th 43% · F 14%
Common patterns: MR (29% of sections), async (18% of sections), TF (14% of sections), M (13% of sections), MW (12% of sections), TR (9% of sections) — in patterns, R means Thursday
Professors
Fall
- Seth Cooper (88% of students) · reviews
- Mark Fontenot (12% of students) · reviews
Spring
- Seth Cooper (75% of students) · reviews
- Adeel Bhutta (25% of students) · reviews
Summer A
- Adeel Bhutta (81% of students) · reviews
- Seth Cooper (19% of students) · reviews
Summer B
- Kutub Gandhi (100% of students) · reviews
Percentages are each professor's average share of the season's enrolled students in recent terms.
Unlocks
Courses that list CS 3520 in their prerequisites.
Links
Official catalog (CS course descriptions) · Student reviews on RateMyHusky · All CS courses · Plan it at numap.app