CSC148 — Assignments

Approaching an Assignment

Start the assignment early: university assignments require time to interpret and absorb. At least read it once when it is posted so you can think about any connections with subsequent lectures. Do not try to do an assignment at the last minute: it is difficult to estimate the amount of time required to complete a programming assignment, including the debugging and testing.

Read the assignment more than once to figure out how the parts fit together and clarify each other. In particular, use your understanding of the course material to interpret parts of the assignment that may seem imprecise or require judgement.

Plan before coding. Do not debug by blindly fiddling with your program: students who debug without fully understanding their code report spending hours or days more of effort and end up with incorrect code of poor style.

Plagiarism

Each year, especially in first-year courses, the University prosecutes a significant number of students for Academic Offences. You must familiarize yourself with the University's Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters.

The work you submit must be your own. In particular, you may not show any part of your assignment work (including any rough work) to another student nor may you look at any student's assignment work (including any rough work). The safest approach is not to discuss the assignment with anyone except the course instructors and TAs. You are however encouraged to discuss the other course material with anyone.

Many students who commit an offence by looking at someone else's work or having someone write the assignment for them report that they did so out of panic shortly before the assignment was due, because they had never faced an academic situation where they hadn't completed an assignment. While it is hard to think straight when you are panicing, a better course of action is to contact us about your situation. Also, keep in mind that the penalty for plagiarizing an assignment is usually more than if you had simply received zero by not handing in the assignment at all.

Many students who commit an offence by showing their assignment work to another student report that they thought (incorrectly) that the work would not be copied or mimiced, thought (incorrectly) that they were being `nice', or felt pressured into it.

Submitting

Unless otherwise noted, submit your assignments electronically through CDF. Before you can submit you must have logged in to CDF from one of the labs and changed your password.

You can resubmit files, so you don't have to wait until you're sure you are completely done. Keep in mind that the system may get slow around the due time as many students try to submit.

When submitting Java code, submit only the .java source files, not the compiled .class files. If the assignment specifies the file names then you must get the case (capitalization) exactly right.

Late Policy

Late assignments will be penalized by 20% for each 24hr. period, or any part thereof.

If your assignment is late due to a serious medical condition, have your doctor complete a UofT medical certificate available from UofT Health Services Forms. Submit the completed certificate to your instructor.

Submitting Hard Copies

Please submit hard copies of your assignment, and any written portion in large envelopes (say 8 x 11) with your name, student number, course and assignment number clearly written on the outside of the envelope.

If you are late, please bring the hard copy to the secretary in the reception area in D.L.Pratt 283. She is usually there 9-5 weekdays, but often steps out to do other business. Call her at 416 978-8737 just before you walk over, to check to see if she will be in. When you hand it to her, ask her to sign it (with the time).

Assignment 4

Specification.

A4handout.zip.

Directions for electronically submitting A4.

Assignment 3

Specification.

A3handout.zip.

Directions for electronically submitting A3.

Assignment 2

Specification.

A2handout.zip.

SudokuPanel.java (corrected for Vista).

Directions for electronically submitting A2.

Assignment 1

Specification.

Handout code.

Testing code.

Directions for electronically submitting A1.

Solution for A1.

Guidelines

We'll be looking for the following:

• Clarity of the code.
• Use of a class hierarchy to organize the different `things'.
• Java style conventions: indentation, brace placement, naming conventions.
• Documentation where (and only where) it clarifies the code. In particular, document any interpretations you made to `fill in' the specification.

Assignment 0

Specification.

Handout code.

Directions for electronically submitting A0.