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-- blm
This is a second test of my cs1321 mailing list, and also a suggestion that any of you with free time this weekend start reading chapter 1 of the textbook.
-- blm
Those of you who are new to Unix/Linux may find the following Web pages helpful; those of you with previous experience should skim the indicated sections:
Links to tutorial and other information: http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/Misc/class-links.html.
Remote access to the department's Linux machines: http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/Misc/remote-access.html. (Everyone should consider using an SSH-capable replacement for "telnet" -- in addition to being more secure, such replacements are often generally nicer to use.)
Introductory Unix hints and tips: http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/Misc/1320-tips-unix.html. (Everyone should read the newly-added section on file security.)
-- blm
I neglected to mention yesterday that programs I show in class will usually be available via the "Sample programs" Web page (linked from the main class page), if not by lecture time then later that day. You are free to reuse any of the code or comments in these programs in your homework programs.
As I may have mentioned, Homework 1 is intended not so much to challenge your programming skills as to give you an opportunity to get (more) familiar with tools you will use to develop later programs. I encourage you all to use the department's Linux machines for your homework -- unless stated otherwise for a specific assignment, I don't require you to develop on a specific system, but by doing your homeworks on the Linux machines you acquire/improve your skill with Linux/Unix tools, which will benefit you in the long term.
-- blm
My first class today was sparsely attended, and those present voted unanimously to go back to watching the news rather than discuss course material, understandably. I'll be in HAS 228 at 2:10pm, ready to talk about course material if there are students present and willing, but I won't cover new material unless most of you are there, and I won't be surprised if I'm the only one in the room.
I had planned to be out of town for Thursday's class, but that's looking unlikely. If you don't hear from me, assume we *will* have class; if I do cancel class, I'll let you know by e-mail as soon as possible.
-- blm
P.S. I think it's appropriate to extend the deadline for homework 1 at least until 5pm tomorrow. Further extensions are possible depending on how things play out; I'll keep everyone posted by e-mail.
-- blm
Dr. Brazil has just announced that no classes will meet this afternoon, so that makes it official/definite. It looks like he sent the same e-mail to all on campus, and he says it better than I would.
-- blm
I just noticed that some of the comments in the starter unary.h file for homework 2 use terminology we haven't used in class. My mistake. To try to clarify, for a recursively-defined abstract data type (such as a list), we could talk about the following kinds of functions:
"constructors" -- not necessarily C++ constructors, but functions that build larger instances of the data type from smaller ones -- e.g., building a list from an item and a (smaller) list "predicates" -- functions that determine which case of the recursive definition is being matched -- e.g., empty() for lists "selectors" -- functions that deconstruct/disassemble an instance of the data type based on the recursive definition -- e.g., head() and tail() for lists
I just received e-mail from one student with questions about the assignment. If others also are having difficulty, we can talk about the assignment in class today and I will extend the deadline until next Tuesday. So, if you're having trouble, (1) don't panic, and (2) come to class prepared to ask questions.
Okay?
-- blm
We (or I) decided today in class to extend the deadline for turning in Homework 2 until Tuesday (September 25) at 5pm.
Also, you should write your code using only the following functions from the Seq class: the two constructors, empty(), hd(), and tl(). You will get at least partial credit for anything that works, but I might deduct points for using Seq functions I didn't tell you about. (Why? The point of this homework was to see how much you can do with a recursively-defined data structure and just a few functions.)
-- blm
By unanimous consent of those present in class yesterday, the date of the first exam has been changed from October 4 to October 11. If you were not present and have a problem with this change, please let me know as soon as possible.
-- blm
You already know about the "putty" program that allows you to remotely connect to the Linux machines. There is also a software package that provides a Unix-like environment for Windows, including the ability to connect to another Unix/Linux machine in GUI mode (so you can run, e.g., gvim rather than vi). The package is called cygwin; for more information and instructions for downloading and installing it, see http://www.cs.trinity.edu/lab-news.cgi (the last paragraph). I have not tried installing this under Windows, but Dr. Howland has (on the W2K machines in the lab), and he says it's straightforward. If you try it, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences.
-- blm
I've posted sample solutions for homeworks 1 and 2, linked from http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/CS1321_2001fall/assignments.html.
The solution for Homework 2 is (I claim) particularly compact and so worth a quick look even if your solution was correct.
-- blm
I've posted a short review sheet describing Thursday's exam, linked from http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/CS1321_2001fall/assignments.html. I will also post a sample solution for Homework 3 after its deadline (5pm Tuesday -- possibly extended to midnight if people are having difficulty). The exam will be open book, and students who have kept up with material presented in class and with the homeworks should already be fairly well prepared.
-- blm
I've posted a sample solution for homework 3, linked from http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~bmassing/CS1321_2001fall/assignments.html. The solution page also includes information about testing; if you're impatient to see whether your solution works (according to my tests), let me know and I'll provide instructions on how to run the test script.
-- blm