Announcements

Homework #2 Questions and answers

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 21 at 3:26pm

Hi, everyone,

There have been numerous questions on homework #2. Here they are, along with answers:

• Problem 1. There is a single command that will say what will be executed when you type “gcc”. That’s what you should use to get the list of directories containing gcc. Please list the full path name(s).
• Problem 3. Several things:
  • What happens if there is a repeated character in the input string?
    Answer: don't do anything special. For example, it the input is “11”, the two outputs should be “11” and “11”.
  • Can you use a for loop in the recursive function?
    Answer: yes. The function must call itself, but you can do so from within a loop (for, while, or do..while), an if statement, or any other legal C construct.
  • What do we do if the user enters a blank line?
    Answer: You can either end the program or immediately reprompt the user for an input string. If you do the latter, do not output a blank line!
  • How long can the input be?
    Answer: It will be no more than 100 characters.
• Problem 4. Several things:
  • Do I use a graphics library to draw the rectangle?
    Answer: No. Please use “-” for the horizontal (top and bottom) and “|” for the vertical (sides).
  • If the input is “2x4”, do I make a square with 4 on each side?
    Answer: No. Make a rectangle as the border for a 2x4 inner rectangle.
  • Do I need to check for bad inputs?
    Answer: yes. You need to check for invalid inputs, which is anything other than two positive integers with an “x” between them. So, for example, “helloxbye” and “−3x5” should both be rejected.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Help with Learning the shell, bash

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 21 at 1:46pm

Hi, everyone,

Jim Moersfelder, who leads the CSIF support staff, has pointed me to a couple of useful aids to learning the shell, bash.

Here is a write-up from the CSIF support group on learning bash:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19F6uzyffelgZOlrm2oHBOzgqkQiUhxRGciGqzZeLp0U

And if you go to this link:
https://opensource.com/article/19/10/learn-bash-command-line-games
there are links to some games for learning the bash shell, and instructions on how to install them. The games are:

• One modeled after the game of Adventure, sometimes called Colossal Cave Adventure;
• One called Command Line Heroes: BASH; and
• One about writing the game Minesweeper in bash.

These should prove very helpful.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

No Office Hour Today

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 18 at 12:36pm

Folks,

I have to cancel my office hour today. I'll hold a make-up office hour on Monday from 10-10:50 (I may be a few minutes late, as I have to come from a class in Wellman).

Apologies for the short notice.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Paid Note Takers

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 14 at 12:46pm

Folks,

The Student Disability Center (SDC) asks that students interested in serving as paid note takers for this course please contact the Student Disability Center at sdc@ucdavis.edu.

Note takers are paid a stipend of $25 per unit (students can volunteer in lieu of payment), but must have a social security number or have visa status to qualify for an SSN, have a GPA of 2.5 or better, and be in good academic standing with UC Davis. Students should attach a sample of their notes to the email and put the following information in the subject line: “note taker”, the course code, CRN number, and instructor’s name. If selected, the SDC will offer the position to the Note Taker.

Notes provided to SDC students needing note takers are not to be posted, sold, or otherwise distributed, either by the note taker or the SDC Student receiving the notes. Note takers and SDC students receiving notes are expected to comply with the UC Davis academic honor code.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Extension for Homework 1

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 9 at 7:22pm

Folks,

I have changed the due date for homework 1 to Friday, October 11.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Karen’s Office Hours Finalized

Posted by: Karen Lu
Date: Oct 7 at 4:42pm

Hi Everyone,

My office hour is finalized for the rest of the quarter.

Monday – 1:00–2:00PM Kemper 47
Wednesday – 9:00AM–10:00AM Kemper 55
Friday – 5:00PM–6:00PM Kemper 47

(I took consideration of the when2meet result for those who filled them out. The final decision is heavily influenced by room availablity and decision from CS advising office. I hope these times work out for you. Feel free to let me know if you want additional help and we'll try to sort something out.)

Best
Karen

Question 4 test file

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 7 at 3:18pm

Hi, folks,

To help you all debug vis.c, I created two files. Both are in the directory /home/bishop/hw1-programs

• vis-testfile has all sorts of strange inputs
• vis-output has the output that vis should give

And, as before, the vis file in that directory is a debugged executable you can use to check your output against its output.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Question 4 test inputs & Extra credits clarification

Posted by: Ge Shi
Date: Oct 7 at 2:23pm

Hi Everyone,

A lot of you seems to be confusing about the characters for inputs. Here’s a clarification. I’ve test it on my Mac but it may not be universal.

Some of the cases can be moved out of the switch-cases block.

For extra credits, to get the full credits, you need to print everything in one line with comma. For example: 3,5,7,9.

You can still get partial credits if you make the functionality correct.

**Edited: Added Linux Alternative for CSIF Machine — Karen**

Follow-up to Karen’s Discussion/Office Hour

Posted by: Karen Lu
Date: Oct 5 at 9:01pm

Hi Everyone (esp. People who came to my sections and office hours),

Office Hours

I promised people during my office hour that I would address the questions with how to test p4's non-printing characters. Here’s some starters:

backspace : ctrl-backspace (You will see a ^H on the prompt before you press enter)
carriage return: ctrl-V ctrl-M (You would see a ^M on the prompt before you press enter)

I believe it is a good learning opportunity to figure the rest out. (can you see a pattern with the nonprintable inputs?)

For those who is stuck with debugging p4. My suggestion is to break the problem down and understand what each function does and which path is each input character taking.

Discussions

I also want to mention, for those who wants to familiarize with vim. Check out this online game.

Here’s the optional survey I put out for my discussion. You don’t have to fill this out, but it will give us a good sense on the diverse CS background for this class.

I will make another annoucement once the department approved my office hour times.

Cheers and good luck with your Homework

Karen

Karen’s Office Hour moved to Kemper 67

Posted by: Karen Lu
Date: Oct 4 at 5:03pm

As topic

New TA and New Office Hour (and new Discussion)

Posted by: Karen Lu
Date: Oct 3 at 4:07pm

Hi everyone,

My name is Karen and I will be the new TA for CS36A. I have office hours tomorrow from 5–7pm at Kemper 47. I think it will be more helpful to schedule my permanent office hours based on your preferred times. So, please refer to this when2meet link and put down your best available or preferred times. And I will take these times into account when scheduling my office hours for the rest of the quarter.

My discussion will be

    F 1:10pm–2:00pm 176 Chemistry

(Previously Matt’s section)

My email is kxylu@ucdavis.edu

Best Regards and have a great quarter
Karen

CS Tutoring and Women in Computer Science

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 3 at 11:53am

Hi, folks,

I have received two announcements of groups that will be of interest to members of the class:

• CS Tutoring begins next week. Here is their web site, which includes the calendar of tutors and tutoring:
      https://sites.google.com/view/cs-tutoring-ucd/
  More times will be added, and it should be fully updated by this weekend.
• The Davis Women in Computer Science have begun holding their Fall Quarter meetings. Here is some information about them and their current meeting schedule:

  Davis Women in Computer Science is an organization on campus that aims to provide a safe space for students in the CS community. We host weekly events that are welcome to everyone, which means you don’t have to be female identifying to attend! This quarter, we’ve planned a mixture of technical workshops and panels that are geared towards our members’ career and professional development.
  Our meetings this quarter will be held at Haring 1227 from 7:30 to 8:30 PM, every Monday. Our first event is on Wednesday, October 02, 2019, we hope to see you there!

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Homework 1 Aids

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 3 at 11:50am

Hi, folks,

Two notes about homework 1 that will help you if you are having problems (and maybe even if you aren’t).

1. I have posted a working version of the vis program described in question 4 of homework 1. It’s an executable, and your corrected vis.c program should, when compiled, produce an executable that works the same way. You can get it by copying this file:
       /home/bishop/hw1-programs/vis
   You can also find hw1_3.c and hw1_ex.c in that directory, so you can copy them and use them for homework question 3 and the extra credit, respectively. These are identical to the files posted on Canvas. So you can copy them directly and not download them from Canvas.
2. Here s how you run the program in question 3 of homework 1. After you add the loops, compile the program. Call the executable “hw1_3” (no quotes, of course). Then try:
       hw1_3 5 10
   That should count up from 5 to 10. Try:
       hw1_3 10 5
   That should count down from 10 to 5. In general, the first argument is the starting number, and the second argument is the ending number.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Friday’s Office Hours

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Oct 3 at 11:46am

Hi, folks,

I have to change my office hours for tomorrow only. They will be 3:00pm–4:00pm.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Change to Homework 1

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Sep 30 at 3:34pm

Folks,

I wanted to move the focus of question 3 of the homework away from the functions and onto the loops. So I revised the exercise, and the extra credit. Now the template .c files you download have the functions in them, but the functions are empty. You have to add the loops where indicated.

I have updated the Assignment in Canvas accordingly. Also, it is due on October 9, not October 7.

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Two Discussion Sections Relocated; TA Office Hours Set

Posted by: Matt Bishop
Date: Sep 29 at 4:11pm

Hello,

I have just been informed that two discussion sections have changed location.

Section A02, Wednesdays at 5:10pm–6:00pm, is now in 176 Chemistry.

Section A03, Thursdays at 1:10pm–2:00pm, is now in 204 Art.

Also, the TAs have set up their office hours. We will add a couple more but for now …

• Subhankar Gupta: Monday 3:00pm–4:00pm, Friday 11:00am–1:00pm, both in Room 47 Kemper
• Matt Lyons: Wednesday 2:00pm–3:00pm, Thursday 3:00pm–5:00pm, both in Room 53 Kemper
• Ge Shi: Monday 10:00am–12:00pm, Wednesday 4:00pm–6:00pm, both in Room 55 Kemper; and Friday 10:00am–11:00am in Room 47 Kemper

Hope this helps,
Matt Bishop

Matt Bishop Office: 2209 Watershed Sciences Phone: +1 (530) 752-8060 Email: mabishop@ucdavis.edu

ECS 36A, Programming and Problem Solving

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