CS-1012: Performing and submitting work

Working on your laptop (performing work)

To learn programming and to write programs you need to know two things:

How to write programs in a particular programming language (like Python, the programming language we'll use). Included in this skill set is: how to think about programming, the language details, problem-solving and so on.
How to be reasonably facile with computers, just enough so that you can get your programs done. This part has little to do with programming and more to do with your particular laptop (Mac or Windows): how to edit files, move files around, and so on. We call this computerese, to signify the occasional arcane knowledge required for this purpose. We will keep this as simple as possible, with the bare minimum needed to be successful in this course.

How to get started: When you begin Module 0, you will be given links to "how to" videos that will get you started.n

Getting organized for work

The structure of this course is: three units, each of which has modules and assignments. Accordingly, what you'll need to do (and you can do this a bit later) is:

Make a folder (directory) for this course.
Inside that folder, make three parallel folders called unit0, unit1 and unit2
Inside the unit0 folder make folders called module0, module1,... as needed.
When you actually do work and save work, you'll do so in these innermost folders.
There are two ways in which you'll "see" these folders:
- Using a desktop browsing tool like Finder (on Mac) or the equivalent one on Unix (sometimes called File Explorer).
- In the Terminal application.
You ought to get used to using both, as we proceed.

Submitting work

As an example, consider the submission of all your work for Module 0 of Unit-0. You will have already done all your work in the folder called module0 that's inside of unit0. What you will be doing for your Module 0 work is:

Make a zip of (that is, compress) the module0 folder.
Log into Blackboard and upload the zip in the appropriate place.

What to submit for questions that need text or figures

You will notice that some questions ask for a text (written) response. And some modules will have many such questions. Future modules will ask you to draw figures or tables. You need to put these down in a single document, and submit one PDF per module. So, a zip file for a module will contain:

One PDF that has (text/figure) answers to all the questions that ask for text/figure answers. For example, for Module 3, your module-3 zip should contain module3.pdf.
All the code (Python files) for the module exercises that involve writing code.

Some assignments also ask you submit written content other than code. For these, you need to put them all in one PDF per assignment inside the zip file for that assignment. Thus, for example, your Assignment-2 zip file will contain assignment2.pdf.

What kinds of work to submit

You will be submitting:

Your answers (both code and text/figures) for every module exercise.
Your answers (both code and text/figures) for all assignments. These are typically called Assignment 1, Assignment 2 etc. Most assignment problems have numbers, but some include small exercises that are part of working through a sample (partially) solved problem.

Important: You need to submit something for every exercise listed in any module, any review page, and every assignment. These are typically numbered within a module and within an assignment.