Library unit development fundamentals

Abstract

The teaching of the development of library units seems to lack the attention it deserves in undergraduate education. References to such topic can be found mainly for the professional programer. CS2 provides a great opportunity to teach an initial set of best practices and patterns for the design library units which provide students with a strong foundation for later use in the development of APIs. We present a carefully selected set of patterns and best practices culled through several years teaching data structures. These patterns and practices are aimed to guide the student in the specification, implementation and testing of library units.