We will be using the class newsgroup (su.class.cs193n) to answer all questions regarding course material and assignments. This way, the entire class can benefit from the answers to various questions. So, if you have a question, post it to the newsgroup and we’ll get to it soon as we can. Turnaround time will be at most a few hours, unless of course you post something at an ungodly hour :-) . Also, feel free to answer other people’s questions. When there is conflict of answers/opinion, a posting from a staff member should be taken as the final word.

Two important things to keep in mind:

The Quiz is not yet scheduled.

The Final is not yet scheduled.

The quiz and final will be open-book/open-note examinations, but you are not allowed to use a computer of any kind.

Bay Area STIN students should take the exams on campus—let us know if you have conflicts.

The pace of this course will make it difficult to catch up if you have fallen behind, so, late assignments are very much discouraged. Because each of you will probably come upon some time during the quarter when enough work piles up that you need a little extra time, when you have a minor illness or an extra-curricular activity, or when you encounter hardware problems, every student begins the quarter with two free "late days." To avoid any ambiguity, a "day" is defined as a calendar day (not a class day as in CS106). After your late days for the quarter are exhausted, programs will be assessed a late penalty of one minor grade level per late day used (an A- turns into a B+, and so forth). Late days are valuable, and it pays to keep some around for the end of the quarter.

You should make every effort not to take more than two late days during the quarter. Being consistently late can easily cost you a letter grade in the course. Students often underestimate the effect of being late, and fail to realize that there is a domino effect: being late on one assignment means you are automatically behind schedule on the next one.

In special circumstances (such as extended medical problems or other emergencies), extensions may be granted beyond the two late days. All extension requests must be directed to Hector Chan(chanhp@stanford.edu) no later than 24 hours before the program is originally due.

Although you are encouraged to discuss ideas with others, your programs are to be completed independently and must be your own, original work, or the work of you and your partner if you choose to work in a pair. Whenever you obtain significant outside help (from other students, the TAs, etc.) you should acknowledge this in your program write-up, e.g. "The idea for how to make the ListView control sort by columns came from a discussion with Ramesh." You can never get in Honor Code trouble if the help is properly credited.

The final thing we need to mention is that the Department of Computer Science uses screening software to compare student submissions. This software is very sophisticated and highly effective, and we use it to identify submissions that need to be scrutinized further by course staff. Using software of this type is common practice at many universities, and it has proved to be an effective deterrent to improper collaboration.

Programming is something you learn by doing. If you copy someone else's work, you can expect the following: