Coursework and Submission

Coursework and coding environment

Important: We'll assume you are able to edit, compile and execute Java at the command-line. What this means:

• You are responsible for installing what's needed for editing, compiling and executing Java on your laptop.
• You will also need to know how to include a jar file in your CLASSPATH (instructions will follow below).
• When you complete work, you create a zip and upload into Blackboard.
• You'll need to bring your laptop to class, where we'll be doing programming.

What to do:

• Mac or Linux: Installation on Mac OS is relatively straightforward:
  • Mac OS already comes with Java and pico (a terminal-based code-editor). Type javac in the Terminal to confirm. (it'll print a
  • Some Macbooks come without Java, so you'll need to download from the Oracle website.
  • You are welcome to use any code editor. However, you'll need to compile and execute at the command-line.

• Windows: with Windows, you have five options:
  1. Option #1: Install Linux within Windows using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). See for example this Microsoft page. Both this and the next two options involve learning Linux. This is worth it because it's useful for jobs/internships since a lot of development occurs on the cloud using Linux.
  2. Option #2: Gitbash: Get a Unix-like interface to work with Windows using Gitbash.
  3. Option #3: Install a complete Linux OS in a virtual machine like VirtualBox. Then, do all your work for this course inside that virtual machine (using Linux). This is have the effect of a "computer inside a computer" in some sense. For this purpose, do a search on something like "How to install Ubuntu inside VirtualBox on Windows".
  4. Option #4: Use the remote-Unix facility provided by GW. This gives you a Unix shell account accessible from a browser. See these instructions. You will also need to install the GW VPN client if you use this option from off-campus.
  5. Option #5: Run natively on Windows
     • Java installs the same way as above.
     • You can run command-line from the Command-Prompt (or Powershell).
     • You will need to edit the CLASSPATH environment variable when you use additional libraries via jar files.
  Note: Since you've had several CS courses already, you should be able to make one of the above options work for you.

There are more details on installing Java and CLASSPATHs etc in the instructions to install lintool and Draw3D, one of two packages we will be using in the course. You will also need to install Draw3D (see the lintool page for instructions).

Submission and getting your directories set up

Important: all submissions are to be done in Blackboard.

• Create a subdirectory called linAlg for the course.
• Under this, create one directory for each module, such as module1, module2, module3 etc.
• Within each module directory is where you will do all the module exercises. These include programming exercises (so, the directory should contain your code) and answers to questions.
• Put all the non-coding answers into a SINGLE file called module1.pdf (for module 1). Similarly, your module2 folder should have module2.pdf etc. You can write in Word, or any other typesetting system, but eventually convert to PDF.
• In some cases, if you prefer writing proofs by hand, you can do so as long as the PDF contains a clean and readable scan.
• For all the exercises that involve code, your directory should include the Java programs.
• When you submit a module, simply zip this directory and upload into Blackboard in the appropriate place.
• Similarly, under linAlg create one directory for each assignment.
• Important: we will be using two Java libraries called lintool and Draw3D both of which were created for this course. See the instructions to install lintool and Draw3D.