CSE 30 Fall 2019

General Information

• Time and location: Classroom Unit 2, TTh 11:40-1:15
• Instructor: Luca de Alfaro (luca@ucsc.edu)
• Teaching Assistants:
  • Abhay Pande (abpande@ucsc.edu)
• Najmeh (nmashhad@ucsc.edu)
• Vhal Purohit(vpurohit@ucsc.edu)
• Tutors:
  • Jeffrey Yeung (jeyyeung@ucsc.edu)
  • Terry Guan (teguan@ucsc.edu)

Office Hours

• Luca de Alfaro: 4-5pm, Tuesdays, E2-339A.
• Teaching Assistants: During lab sections.

Announcements

All announcements and discussions will take place via this Piazza Group

Sections

Attendance to the section is not compulsory, but the sections are the place to go if you need help with your work. Here are the sections that are open. Some of them are in computer labs, where you can work on the class on the computers there; others are in classrooms, and you will need to bring your own laptop to be able to work on the assignments.

Textbook

Programming Abstractions in Python. The various chapters will be released during the class.

Homework Deadlines

Class Notes

You need to be logged in via your @ucsc.edu account to view these notes.

• October 15, 2019:
• Equivalence relations
• Expressions
• October 24, 2019
• October 29, 2019
• October 31, 2019
• November 7, 2019
• November 12, 2019
• November 14, 2019
• November 19, 2019
• November 26, 2019 (on SAT)

Homework

There will be one homework assignment per class, for a total of about 20 assignments.

The homework will be done entirely using Python Notebooks. The procedure is as follows.

Each homework will be assigned to you by sharing with your @ucsc.edu account a Google Colab Notebook. A Google Colab Notebook is essentially just like a normal Jupyter Notebook: it is a document that contains both text and executable Python code. You do the homework by running the code contained in the notebook, and completing the sections of code we ask you to complete. When you are done, you download the notebook, and you submit it to a form that we will indicate to you.

Here are the instructions on how to work on a homework; they are essential reading.

We use notebooks, and Colab, for a series of reasons. First, notebooks enable us to mix text and code, so we can explain a concept in English and math, and then provide the code that implements it. Second, online notebooks level the playing field among students: there is no need to install anything on your laptop, and no need indeed to work on a special laptop. If your laptop breaks, you can just head to the library or to a computing lab, and work from there. Yes, online notebooks deprive you from the experience of installing packages on your laptop. This class focuses on concepts, however, not on the mechanics of keeping up a Python installation; you will learn that in other classes.

Late Homework Policy

No late homework can be accepted. The homework is graded automatically in large part, and we cannot accept late homework; we don't have a way to grade it. The instructor may decide to exclude from your class average a number n of assignments, with n a non-negative integer.

Attendance

Attendance is required, and it will count towards 5% of the grade. Attendance will be taken in class, via QR-codes displayed on the projection screen; these QR codes lead you to forms where you can register your attendance, and provide feedback about the class. Thus, you need a mobile phone with camera. We will excuse up to 3 absences without need for justification, and more as appropriate with valid justification.

Collaboration Policy

You should work on your own on all the homework. In sections, you can ask the TAs and Tutors for advice, but you cannot copy from others: once you understand the concepts, you must write your own code. While you work on your own solution, you can:

• Discuss with others about the general techniques involved (without sharing your code with them).
• Search via search engines online the Python documentation, StackOverflow, and any other open documentation site or blog you ever find. We appreciate if you give a reference (a comment with the URL) if you copy from such sites, but copying from documentation sites online is permitted.
• You cannot copy from password-protected sites, such as homework exchange sites.
• You cannot upload online or otherwise make available the homework notebooks that are provided to you. They are the copyright of the instructor, and you do not have the legal right to disseminate them.

Students with Accessibility Needs

UC Santa Cruz is committed to creating an academic environment that supports its diverse student body. If you are a student with a disability who requires accommodations to achieve equal access in this course, please submit your Accommodation Authorization Letter from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) to me via this form, which is confidential.