6.005 — Software Construction
Fall 2015

Old Announcements

Mon Nov 16: Quiz 2 this Friday

Quiz 2 will be on Friday, November 20, 1pm-2pm, in Walker 3rd floor gym. That’s the usual class time, but not the usual class location. It is a 50-minute quiz.

The quiz will cover readings 1-26, from the start of the semester up to and including today’s class on little languages, but not including next Monday’s class on team version control. The quiz will mainly focus on classes 16-26 (which weren’t on quiz 1), but any and all concepts from readings 1-26 may appear on the quiz.

Quizzes from previous semesters can be found in the quiz archive on the homepage, although their content may differ a bit from the topics we’ve discussed this semester.

The quiz is on paper, so you don’t need your laptop. It is closed-book, closed-notes, but you may bring a single 8.5x11” double-sided page of notes, readable without a magnifying glass. The notes must be created by you, not anybody else, since the process of creating a crib sheet is most of the learning benefit of it.

Review sessions will be held during a shortened class on Wednesday (1-2 pm) and office hours on Thursday (3-5pm). At the review sessions, TAs will provide selected exercises and problems from previous quizzes and will be able to answer any questions you have as you work through them.

Because Wednesday is Drop Date, a special instructor office hour will be held Wednesday 2-3 pm for people who need advice about whether to drop.

As always, if you have questions, please ask on Piazza.

Fri Nov 13: ps4 beta report now available

Grade reports and 0-, 1-, and 2-slack-day code reviewing for ps4 beta are now available.

If you took 3 slack days, code reviewing will open tomorrow morning and is due at 10pm.

To see your beta’s autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps4 page, and click “beta” in the Milestones section. To see your beta’s code reviews, go to Caesar and click on ps4-beta under “submitted assignments.”

The ps4 final is due Tuesday at 10pm. Don’t forget to address each code review comment and make sure your submission is code-smell-free. If you need to take a slack day, remember to request it on Caesar before the deadline.

Good luck, and please ask any questions on Piazza.

Fri Nov 13: worktime in class after nanoquiz, and office hours

Friday’s class will have a nanoquiz and a short exercise about map/filter/reduce, and then the rest of the class will be available for working on ps4, with staff on hand to help.

There will be Friday office hours, 3-5 pm, in the 32-G7 lounge. That’s the lounge right outside the elevators on the 7th floor of the Stata Center, Gates side.

Wed Nov 11: ps4 code reviewing now open, due Thu 10 pm

If you submitted ps4 beta last night, you can now go to Caesar to find your code-reviewing assignment. You should find 5 classes to review.

People who requested extensions will have to wait until the morning after their extended deadline before starting code review, and their code review will be due by 10 pm that day. So if you take 3 days of slack, you will do code reviewing on Saturday. See more about code reviewing deadlines.

Tue Nov 10: ps3 grades now available, ps4 beta due today

Problem Set 4: ps4 beta is due today at 10pm. As announced in class, you may apply up to 3 slack days on the beta deadline. If you choose 3 slack days, your code reviews are due Saturday at 10pm.

Problem Set 3: your overall ps3 grade report is on Omnivore, and your final autograde report is on Didit.

Your final grade was calculated as follows:
40% * beta-autograde
+ 40% * max(beta-autograde, final-autograde)
+ 20% * final-manual-grade

Your final manual grade was assigned by staff inspection of your tests, specifications, implementations, and your response to code reviews.

If you have questions, see the FAQ about grading questions.

Fri Nov 6: special location for this Saturday’s lab hours

For this Saturday only, 6.005 lab hours will be held in a different location, 26-168, to make way for 6.148’s mini web competition. On Sunday, we’ll go back to 32-044 for the rest of the term.

Wed Nov 4: ps4 released

ps4 has been released and is on the course website. The ps4 beta deadline is next Tuesday.

Fri Oct 30: ps3 beta report now available

Grade reports and code reviewing for ps3 beta are now available.

To see your beta’s autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps3 page, and click “beta” in the Milestones section. To see your beta’s code reviews, go to Caesar and click on ps3-beta under “submitted assignments.”

The ps3 final is due Tuesday at 10pm. Don’t forget to address each code review comment and make sure your submission is code-smell-free. If you need to take a slack day, remember to request it on Caesar before the deadline.

Good luck, and please ask any questions on Piazza.

Wed Oct 28: ps3 code reviewing now open, due Thu 10 pm

If you submitted ps3 beta last night, you can now go to Caesar to find your code-reviewing assignment. You should find 8 classes to review.

People who requested extensions will have to wait until the morning after their extended deadline before starting code review. See more about code reviewing deadlines.

Mon Oct 26: ps2 grades now available

Your overall ps2 grade report is on Omnivore, and your final autograde report is on Didit.

Your final grade was calculated as follows:
40% * beta-autograde
+ 45% * max(beta-autograde, final-autograde)
+ 15% * final-manual-grade

Your final manual grade was assigned by staff inspection of your tests, implementations, and your response to code reviews.

If you have questions, see the FAQ about grading questions.

Wed Oct 21: ps3 released

ps3 has been released and is on the course website. The ps3 beta deadline is next Tuesday.

Tue Oct 20: Quiz 1 grades

This semester we’re using Gradescope, a tool that allows us to grade quizzes faster and more accurately by scanning them in and grading online.

Quiz 1 grades are now available on Gradescope. You’ll receive an email from Gradescope, and if you haven’t used it in another class, the email will explain how to log in.

Quiz 1 solutions are posted on the website. Later this week, your official grade will be recorded on Omnivore.

Finally, as with all assignments, you must bring grading issues or questions to instructor office hours. Gradescope has a “regrade request” feature, but we will not be using it.

Fri Oct 16: ps2 beta report now available

Grade reports and code reviewing for ps2 beta are now available.

To see your beta’s autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps2 page, and click “beta” in the Milestones section. To see your beta’s code reviews, go to Caesar and click on ps2-beta under “submitted assignments.”

The ps2 final is due Tuesday at 10pm. Don’t forget to address each code review comment and make sure your submission is code-smell-free. If you need to take a slack day, remember to request it on Caesar before the deadline.

Good luck, and please ask any questions on Piazza.

Wed Oct 14: ps2 code reviewing now open, due Thu 10 pm

If you submitted ps2 beta last night, you can now go to Caesar to find your code-reviewing assignment. You should find 8 classes to review. Some or all of it may be JUnit test code, because tests are an important part of this problem set.

People who requested extensions will have to wait until the morning after their extended deadline before starting code review. See more about code reviewing deadlines.

Mon Oct 12: ps1 grades now available

Your overall ps1 grade report is on Omnivore, and your final autograde report is on Didit.

Your final grade was calculated as follows:
40% * beta-autograde
+ 45% * max(beta-autograde, final-autograde)
+ 15% * final-manual-grade

Your final manual grade was assigned by staff inspection of your tests, SocialNetwork code, and your response to code reviews.

If you have questions, see the FAQ about grading questions.

Mon Oct 12: Quiz 1 next Monday

Quiz 1 will be on Monday, October 19, 1pm-2pm, in Walker 3rd floor gym. That’s the usual class time, but not the usual class location. It is a 50-minute quiz, so we will be ending class early on Monday.

The quiz will cover readings 1-15, from the start of the semester up to and including tomorrow’s class on equality, but not including Wednesday’s class on recursive data types. Any and all concepts from readings 1-15 may appear on the quiz. Quizzes from previous semesters can be found in the quiz archive on the homepage, although their content may differ a bit from the topics we’ve discussed this semester.

The quiz is on paper, so you don’t need your laptop. It is closed-book, closed-notes, but you may bring a single 8.5x11” double-sided page of notes, readable without a magnifying glass. The notes must be created by you, not anybody else, since the process of creating a crib sheet is most of the learning benefit of it.

Review sessions will be held during office hours 3-5pm on Thursday and during class time on Friday. At the review sessions, TAs will provide selected exercises and problems from previous quizzes and will be able to answer any questions you have as you work through them.

As always, if you have questions, please ask on Piazza.

Wed Oct 9: lab/office hours over holiday weekend

6.005 office and lab hours will happen in the usual times and places over the Columbus Day weekend. See the calendar.

Wed Oct 7: ps2 released

ps2 has been released and is on the course website. The ps2 beta deadline is next Tuesday.

Fri Oct 2: ps1 beta report now available

Grade reports and code reviewing for ps1 beta are now available.

As before, to see your beta’s autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps1 page, and click “beta” in the Milestones section. To see your beta’s code reviews, go to Caesar and click on ps1-beta under “submitted assignments.”

The ps1 final is due Tuesday at 10pm. Don’t forget to address each code review comment and make sure your submission is code-smell-free. If you need to take a slack day, remember to request it on Caesar before the deadline.

Good luck, and please ask any questions on Piazza.

Wed Sep 30: ps1 code reviewing now open, due Thu 10 pm

If you submitted ps1 beta last night, you can now go to Caesar to find your code-reviewing assignment. You should find 8 classes to review. Some or all of it may be JUnit test code, because tests are an important part of this problem set.

People who requested extensions will have to wait until the morning after their extended deadline before starting code review. See more about code reviewing deadlines.

Mon Sep 28: ps0 grades now available

To see your final pset grade and grade report, go to:
https://omni.csail.mit.edu/6.005/fa15/user/psets/ps0

Your final grade was calculated as follows:
40% * beta-autograde
+ 45% * max(beta-autograde, final-autograde)
+ 15% * final-manual-grade

To see your final autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps0 page, and click “final” in the Milestones section.

Your final manual grade was assigned by staff inspection of your personal art, personal art code, and your response to code reviews.

For clarifications about grading comments on pset 0, please ask the staff member who made the comment. This information can be found in your grade report. Other questions about grading should be asked in person at Prof. Miller or Prof. Goldman’s office hours.

Wed Sep 23: ps1 released

ps1 has been released and is on the course website. The ps1 beta deadline is next Tuesday.

Fri Sep 18: ps0 beta report now available

Grade reports and code reviewing for ps0 beta are now available.

  • To see your beta’s autograde report, go to Didit, click the link to your psets/ps0 page, and click “beta” in the Milestones section.
  • To see your beta’s code reviews, go to Caesar and click on ps0-beta under “submitted assignments.”

In autograding, your submission was tested both by the public tests that were handed out, and by hidden tests. If you failed any hidden tests, you’ll see the name of the test that failed and a stack trace of where it failed, but the test case inputs will not be revealed to you, either by Didit or by 6.005 staff. The hidden tests are like bug reports from users in the field, and what you get is a rough idea of what the user was trying to do (the test name), and a stack trace of where the bug happened in your code. You need to figure out what’s wrong with your code from those clues.

If you’re stuck, your Didit report has “hints for failing at …” links that lead to ClassOverflow, a site where you may be able to find hints written by classmates who also had that bug. After you fix a bug, consider going to ClassOverflow to share a hint about what you learned.

You should now revise and resubmit ps0, with final deadline on Tuesday 10 pm. You can take slack on this deadline using Caesar, just like beta deadlines.

Your final version of ps0 should fix any bugs found by hidden tests, and you must address each of your code review comments made by humans or marked #important by checkstyle, as described in the code reviewing guidelines.

Your overall grade on ps0 will be computed as follows:
overall PS0 grade =
40% * beta-autograde
+ 45% * max(beta-autograde, final-autograde)
+ 15% * manual-grade

The manual-grade will be assigned by staff graders based on how you addressed code review comments and the quality of your code.

Good luck, and please ask any questions on Piazza.

Wed Sep 16: Quiz 1 date changed

As mentioned in class today, the date of quiz 1 has been changed to Mon Oct 19, to avoid conflicts with a 6.042 evening exam and Grace Hopper. The date/time/locations of 6.005’s quizzes can be found on the course calendar.

Tue Sep 15: ps0 beta deadline, 6.S04 option

A reminder that if you need an extension on a problem set beta or final deadline (like the ps0 beta deadline tonight at 10pm), you should request one BEFORE THE DEADLINE using Caesar, as described in the general information handout.

If you find yourself needing extra time on ps0 because the programming part is challenging, you may need more programming experience before taking 6.005, and you should consider taking 6.S04. 6.S04 is offered for the first time this semester, uses Python, and (for this semester only!) satisfies the 6.02 requirement. You need to make a decision to switch to 6.S04 this week, however, or it may be hard to catch up.

If you’re not sure whether 6.005 or 6.S04 is right for you, please come and talk to the instructors of either course.

Sep 9: Problem Set 0 and Getting Started

Problem Set 0 is now available.

For help getting started with Java, Eclipse, and Git: visit lab hours tonight and tomorrow (Wed/Thu) from 7pm to 10pm in 32-044. TAs and LAs will be there to help you install and set up the tools you need for 6.005. They can also help you with the transition from Python to Java.

You must have all the tools set up and ready before class at 1pm on Friday. See Part I of PS0 and complete problems 0 through 3.

PS0 beta is due next Tuesday, September 15, at 10pm. PS0 final will be due the following Tuesday. See the General Information page for a description of beta and final problem set deadlines.

If you need help with course material or programming in Java, please see the calendar of office and lab hours.

For almost all questions, Piazza is the place to ask. Once again, welcome to 6.005!

Sep 9: Class 1 grades online, Reading 2 due 10pm tomorrow

Welcome to 6.005!

In class today you completed reading exercises in reading 1 and took a first nanoquiz. Your grades for the reading exercises and the nanoquiz are now on Omnivore, the 6.005 grade-chomping monster.

Reading 2 is online.

Reading exercises are due 10pm the evening before class, so reading 2 exercises are due at 10pm tomorrow.

In class on Friday we will take a nanoquiz on reading 2. Nanoquiz grades will be posted at or soon after the end of class, at which point the 7 * 24-hour makeup period begins. There is a description of nanoquiz grading online.

If you have questions, please ask on Piazza.

Sep 1: Welcome to 6.005!

You’re getting this message because you preregistered for 6.005. Welcome! A few announcements:

  1. In order to join the class properly, you must fill out this signup form. Please fill it out now. 6.005 is oversubscribed, so you must fill out this form before the end of the first class meeting on Wednesday, or else you won’t be able to take the course for credit.

  2. 6.01 is a required prerequisite for this course. If you haven’t taken it, you won’t be able to take 6.005 for credit, only as a listener.

  3. You will need to bring a laptop to every 6.005 class meeting, including the first meeting on Wednesday September 9. If you don’t have a laptop, IS&T can lend you one.

See you next Wednesday!