Introduction, Java review (Jan 16)

This tutorial is to get introduced, and to make sure everyone has a Java environment setup. If you took CPSC 219/233, you most likely have this covered. If not, we'll take care of it on Monday. Cheers.

Your TA

  • My name is Edwin, I am the TA for T02 (MW 13:00-13:50) and T03 (MW 11:00-11:50).
  • Office hours: I don't have official office hours yet, but feel free to email me with questions. If we need to meet, we can arrange a time in-class or through email.
  • Location: ICT 524
  • PLEASE setup an appointment first, because I'm often working off campus.
  • My desk is inside a lab, please knock and ask for me if the door is not open.

 Assignment Submission

  • Assignments will be submitted via D2L dropbox
  • The dropbox closes automatically. Don't wait until the last minute, and risk not submitting it on time.
  • Extensions: I cannot give extensions, please contact the prof if you have a good reason. If you contact me, I will just refer you to the prof instead.
  • Code errors: If your code does not execute at all, you risk receiving zero on your assignment. TEST YOUR CODE ON THE SCHOOL SERVER. We expect the code to compile and execute on school computers using javac and java.

Grading

Each of the four assignments will be assigned to one of the TAs, and they will grade all five tutorial sections. That means grades will be consistent between tutorials, but it also means two things: 1) it will take a while to return all the assignments (five tutorials, up to 20 students each) and 2) each TA may have different standards when grading.

Tutorials

If you haven't already checked out the course website, take a few minutes to skim through it. I'd also recommend you bookmark it.

Prof. Jacobson has already uploaded a lot of useful information, and I find it helpful to get an overview of anything and everything, before you start. This applies to courses as well.

In the past courses I TAed, I primarily used my own website to post tutorial information. Since Prof. Jacobson has already posted all the tutorials, we will often work through the samples on his site. If there are additional examples, discussions, or information I find helpful to you, I will post it on my website. My goal is to help you get through the exercises, and to do well on the four assignments.

Switching tutorials: I prefer if you attend your scheduled tutorial, since the course will involve lots of one-on-one time during tutorials, while you work through the exercises. It would be unfair to take away time from the registered students. That said, if you cannot attend your scheduled tutorial for some reason, I don't mind you swapping occasionally.

Java

We will mostly use the Eclipse IDE in class, but you are free to use any IDE you want AS LONG AS your files compile and run on the school computers in the terminal. This means if I open up terminal, and use javac and java with your files, I should get working code. For help setting up Eclipse IDE and environment variables, refer to my CPSC 233 page.

Remote Access

You can follow these instructions to setup PuTTY, to get SSH access to school computers. If you need to transfer files, you can either use a file transfer program like WinSCP (almost same settings as PuTTY), or follow the IT department's instructions to map a network drive (a virtual drive on your computer which displays your school account's files). I personally wind WinSCP easier to setup, because to use the network drive, you also need to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).