Computer Applications in ECE

Proposed Textbook Title

Introduction to Computer Applications for Electrical & Computer Engineering

Course Positioning

This course introduces computational tools and programming methods used throughout Electrical and Computer Engineering. Emphasis is placed on engineering problem-solving, data handling, numerical methods, and programming fundamentals, using Excel, MATLAB, and C++ with ECE-specific examples.

Part I Engineering Computing Foundations

Chapter 1 The Role of Computation in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Data Formats, and Interoperability
A Brief History of Computing in Engineering
Introduction to the Role of Computation in Modern Days
Choosing the Right Tool: Excel, MATLAB, C++, and Python
Numbers and Precision
       Data Is the Foundation of Computation
Units and Significant Figures
Types of Engineering Data
       Scalars
       Vectors and Matrices
       Time Series
       Signals
How Computers Store Numbers
       Integers
       Floating Point
       Precision
       Overflow
Common File Formats
       CSV
       Plain Text (.txt)
       Excel Workbook (.xlsx)
       MATLAB Data File (.mat)
Text Versus Binary
Reading and Writing Data
       In MATLAB
       In Excel
       In C++
Moving Data Among Excel, MATLAB, and C++
Data Integrity and Reproducibility

Part II Excel for Engineering Problem-Solving

Chapter 2 Excel Fundamentals for Engineers
Excel Introduction
       What Is Excel?
       Working With Excel
Excel Overview
       Overview
Multiple Sheets
Excel Syntax
       Syntax
Challenge Questions

Chapter 3 Engineering Visualization in Excel
Excel Sort
       Excel Sorting
       Sort Ascending
Excel Filter
Table
Excel Table Design
       Table Design
       Table Name
Excel Table Resizing
       Table Resizing
       Resize Table Command
       Drag to Resize
       Excel Removing Duplicates
Excel Charts
       Creating a Chart in Excel
Challenge Questions

Chapter 4 Engineering Modeling With Excel
Functions in EXCEL
       Excel AND Function
       Example AND Function (With IF)
       Excel AVERAGE Function
       AVERAGE Function With Text Field
       Excel AVERAGEIF Function
       Excel AVERAGEIFS Function
       Excel CONCAT Function
       Excel COUNT Function
       Excel COUNTA Function
       Excel COUNTBLANK Function
       Excel COUNTIF Function
       Excel COUNTIFS Function
       Excel IF Function
       Excel IFS Function
Challenge Questions

Part III MATLAB for Numerical Computing

Chapter 5 MATLAB Environment and Engineering Workflow
Starting MATLAB
Quitting MATLAB
       Getting Started
       Creating MATLAB Variables
       Overwriting Variable
       Error Messages
       Controlling the Hierarchy of Operations or Precedence
       Floating Point Number
Managing the Workspace
Challenge Questions

Chapter 6 MATLAB Plotting for Engineering Communication
Basic Plotting
       Overview
       Creating Simple Plots
       Plot sin(x)
Adding Titles, Axis Labels, and Annotations
Multiple Datasets in One Plot
Customizing Line Styles and Colors

Chapter 7 Programming Structures in MATLAB
Control Flow and Operators
       Introduction
       Control Flow
       Relational and Logical Operators
Saving Output to a File

Chapter 8 Functions and Modular Programming
Mathematical Functions

Chapter 9 File I/O and Data Processing
Data Import in MATLAB
       Introduction
       Writing to Diary Files
       Exporting Data to Text Data Files With Low-Level I/O

Part IV C++ for ECE and Computer Engineering

Chapter 10 Introduction to C++ for Engineers
What Is C++?
       C++ Syntax
       Omitting Namespace
       C++ Statements
       Many Statements
       C++ Output (Print Text)
       C++ Print Numbers
       New Lines
       Escape Sequence
       C++ Comments
       Single-Line Comments
       C++ Multiline Comments
Challenge Questions

Chapter 11 C++ Data Types, Variables, and Operators
C++ Variables
       Declaring (Creating) Variables
       Changing Variable Values
       Other Types
       Display Variables
C++ Declare Multiple Variables
       Declare Many Variables
       One Value to Multiple Variables
C++ Identifiers
C++ Constants
       Notes on Constants
C++ User Input
       Creating a Simple Calculator
C++ Data Types
       C++ Numeric Data Types
       C++ Boolean Data Types
       C++ Character Data Types
       C++ String Data Types
       C++ auto Keyword
C++ Operators
       Arithmetic Operators
       Incrementing and Decrementing
       C++ Assignment Operators
       Compound Assignment Operators
       C++ Comparison Operators
       C++ Logical Operators
       C++ Operator Precedence
C++ Math
       Max and Min
       C++ <cmath> Library
C++ Booleans
       Boolean Values
       C++ Boolean Expressions
Challenge Questions

Chapter 12 Control Structures
If-else Statement
       The if Statement
       Using a Boolean Variable
       The else Statement
       Using a Boolean Variable
C++ else if Statement
       Using Boolean Variables
C++ Shorthand If Else
       Shorthand if ... else (Ternary Operator)
C++ Nested If
C++ Logical Operators in Conditions
       AND (&&)
       OR (||)
       NOT (!)
C++ switch
       The break Keyword
C++ While Loop
       C++ Loops
       C++ While Loop
       The Do/While Loop:
       C++ While Loop Examples
       C++ For Loop
       Print Odd Numbers
       Sum of Numbers
C++ Nested Loops
C++ Break and Continue
       C++ Break
       C++ Continue
Challenge Questions

Chapter 13 C++ Arrays
C++ Arrays
       Access the Elements of an Array
       Change an Array Element
C++ Arrays and Loops
       Loop Through an Array
       The for-each Loop
       C++ Omit Array Size
Fixed Size (Arrays) Versus Dynamic Size (Vectors)
       Vectors
C++ Array Size
       Get the Size of an Array
       Loop Through an Array With sizeof()
C++ Multidimensional Arrays
       Access the Elements of a Multidimensional Array
       Change Elements in a Multidimensional Array
Challenge Questions

Chapter 14 C++ Pointer
C++ Memory Management
       Get Memory Size
Pointer
       Declaring and Initializing Pointers in C++
       Declaring Pointers in C++
       Initializing Pointers in C++
C++ new and delete
       The new Keyword
       The delete Keyword
       Using new and delete With Arrays
When to Use new
Challenge Questions

Chapter 15 C++ Structures (struct)
C++ Structures (struct)
       Create a Structure
       One Structure in Multiple Variables
       Named Structures
Challenge Questions

Chapter 16 Functions
C++ Functions
       Create a Function
       Declare a Function
       Call a Function
C++ Function Parameters
       Parameters and Arguments
       C++ Default Parameters
       C++ Multiple Parameters
C++ The Return Keyword
       Return Values
C++ Functions—Pass by Reference
       Pass by Reference
       C++ Pass an Array to a Function
       C++ Pass Structures to a Function
       Pass by Reference
C++ Function Overloading
       Without Function Overloading
       Using Function Overloading
       Function Overloading by Number of Parameters
C++ Variable Scope
       Local Scope
       Global Scope
       Naming Variables
C++ Recursion
       Fibonacci Series
       Factorial of a Number
Challenge Questions

Chapter 17 C++ Object-Oriented Programming (OOP)
C++ What Is OOP?
What Are Classes and Objects?
       C++ Classes/Objects
       Create a Class
       Create an Object
       Multiple Objects
C++ Class Methods
       Define a Method Inside the Class
       Define a Method Outside the Class
       Parameters
C++ Constructors
       Constructor With Parameters
       Constructor Defined Outside the Class
C++ Constructor Overloading
       Example With Two Constructors
C++ Access Specifiers
       Using Access Specifiers
C++ Encapsulation
       Access Private Members
       C++ Friend Functions
C++ Inheritance
C++ Multilevel Inheritance
C++ Multiple Inheritance
C++ Inheritance Access
       Access Specifiers
C++ Polymorphism
Challenge Questions

Chapter 18 C++ Files
C++ Files
       Create and Write to a File
       Read a File
Challenge Questions