CS 1501 Announcements Summer 2009

These announcements will be updated frequently. You are advised to check this page often. 

 

July 24, 2009

·         I have put a previous exam online to help you study for the 2^nd exam.  Most of the material is the same as this term except for 2 main things: 1) In that term I covered integer multiplication after the midterm, which is why it is on the 2^nd exam and 2) In that term I did not get to geometric algorithms.

·         Note that the T/F + Fill in the Blanks questions are CUMULATIVE.  These are short, basic idea questions that I expect you to remember from the entire term.  However, the more substantial questions are from Lecture 11 onward.

July 13, 2009

·         There were some issues with clients crashing the server over the past day or two, so I have modified the server in an attempt to make it more robust.  The one change that will affect users (i.e. clients) is that the reads during the login process have a timeout of 20 seconds.  Thus, if you take more than 20 seconds to enter your name during login, your connection will be closed.  Once you are logged in, the timeout is no longer in effect.

July 10, 2009

·         The Assignment 4 server is now on java3b.javalab.cs.pitt.edu .  Please note the change

·         Quiz 2 will be given during recitation this week (on Thursday, July 16)

July 2, 2009

·         As I mentioned in lecture today, here is the revised grading scale for Assignment 3:

o   On-time (Tuesday, June 30): +5 points

o   Late (Thursday, July 2): -5 points

o   Very late (Monday, July 6): -15 points

·         Assignment 4 is online – read it over carefully and get started ASAP.  I have put the server online at:

java3c.javalab.cs.pitt.edu

            Check back frequently in case this changes

June 15, 2009

Assignment 2 Note: Some of you have asked whether or not the searches for words should be case-sensitive.  There are two different issues here:

1)      The find() method.  This should search for the EXACT string input as the parameter, and thus should definitely be case-sensitive.  In fact, there is no requirement that the string even be letters (look at the header).

2)      The spell checker (i.e. main program).  This should NOT be case sensitive, as is the norm for spell checkers.  Typically, a spell checker is NOT case sensitive by default, with an option to make it case sensitive if the user wishes.  To achieve case INSENSITIVITY, before inserting words into your searchTest object and before searching for words, convert them to a consistent case (upper or lower – it does not matter).

June 12, 2009

·         Remember that Exam 1 is this coming Thursday, June 18 during class.  Plan accordingly!

·         I have put some practice questions and the solutions to the first quiz online.  Take a look at these to help you study for the exam.  Also look at the online syllabus to see the material that you need to know for the exam.

May 29, 2009

·         As announced in lecture, Quiz 1 will be given during recitation on Thursday, June 4.  Material for the quiz will be up to and including Lecture 6 (see online syllabus). Plan accordingly.

·         I have put the grading rubrics for Assignment 1 online (see the Assignments page).  Use these to help you determine how many points various aspects of the assignment are worth.  Note that the W section has a separate rubric in which more weight is given to the paper.  Also note that the raw points for the rubrics are more than 100, so a raw point is less than a final score point.  For example, in the regular section, an item worth 15 raw points will be worth 10 score points.

·         Assignment 2 is now online.

May 12, 2009

Welcome to CS1501 for the Summer 2009 (209-7) 12-week session.

If you want to get a head start on the material, look at the online syllabus and start reading the referred sections in the text.

Note that we are assuming that all students have a good background (from CS 0401 and CS 0445) in Java.  If you are somewhat rusty with your Java, I recommend reviewing it and getting up to speed with it as soon as possible.

Recitation will meet normally during the first week of classes.  However, the first assignment will not be discussed until the second recitation.