CSCI 1312 (Introduction to Programming for Engineering), Fall 2016:
Homework 1

Credit:

10 points.

Reading

(None.)

Honor Code Statement

Please include with each part of the assignment the Honor Code pledge or just the word ``pledged'', plus one or more of the following about collaboration and help (as many as apply).¹Text in italics is explanatory or something for you to fill in. For written assignments, it should go right after your name and the assignment number; for programming assignments, it should go in comments at the start of your program.

• This assignment is entirely my own work.
• This assignment is entirely my own work, except for portions I got from the assignment itself (some programming assignments include ``starter code'') or sample programs for the course (from which you can borrow freely -- that's what they're for).
• I worked with names of other students on this assignment.
• I got help with this assignment from source of help -- ACM tutoring, another student in the course, the instructor, etc.
• I got significant help from outside source -- a book other than the textbook (give title and author), a Web site (give its URL), etc.. (``Significant'' here means more than just a little assistance with tools -- you don't need to tell me that you looked up an error message on the Web, but if you found an algorithm or a code sketch, tell me about that.)
• I provided significant help to names of students on this assignment. (``Significant'' here means more than just a little assistance with tools -- you don't need to tell me about helping other students decipher compiler error messages, but beyond that, do tell me.)

Programming Problems

(For this assignment, you won't actually be programming, but you will be doing something on a computer, and submitting your answers in the way you'll submit your programs in later assignments.)

Do the following problems. You will end up with at least one text file. Submit this file or files by sending mail to bmassing@cs.trinity.edu with each file as an attachment. Please use a subject line that mentions the course and the assignment (e.g., ``csci 1312 hw 1'' or ``CS1 hw 1'').

1. (10 points) For this problem your mission is to learn a little more about the text editor I teach in this course, vi. Do the following:
   • Open a terminal window (as we did in class), and start the interactive tutorial by typing vimtutor. Work through at least Lesson 1, more if you have time.

   • Now use what you have learned to create a text file in which you describe your experience so far with vi -- likes/dislikes, things you'd like to be able to do but don't know how to, etc. You could call it vi.txt or learning-vi.txt. (Avoid names with spaces for now. I'll explain why in class.) A good place to put this file would be in a directory (folder) called CSCI1320.

   • Send me an e-mail message (to bmassing@cs.trinity.edu) with your text file as an attachment. Probably the simplest way at this point is to start a Web browser (ask me if you can't figure out how), access TMail, and proceed as you usually would to attach a file. Use a subject line that mentions the course and the assignment (e.g., ``csci 1312 homework 1'' or ``CS1 hw 1''). Please send this mail from your Trinity e-mail address even if you have another e-mail address; this is so I can tell that it's homework and who it's from (otherwise it might mistakenly end up in my junk-mail folder).

2. (Optional -- up to 5 extra-credit points) I mentioned in class that there are many other text editors available on typical UNIX/Linux systems. For extra credit, use one of them to write a short text file, as described in the previous problem. Send me this file by e-mail, as described above. (You can send both files in a single message or send them separately, whichever is easier.)

   Which editor should you try this with? My vote is for emacs -- it's also widely available on UNIX/Linux systems, and I know enough about it to be able to try to answer your questions. Start it by opening a terminal window and typing emacs -nw. This should give you a page of instructions. Press control-h and then t to start an interactive tutorial. Work through as much of this tutorial as you need to in order to create and save a text file. Starting the program by just typing emacs starts a graphical version of the program, which you may prefer for use in our labs, but which isn't as useful if you're working remotely.

Footnotes

... apply).¹

Credit where credit is due: I based the wording of this list on a posting to a SIGCSE mailing list. SIGCSE is the ACM's Special Interest Group on CS Education.