CS 3813/780: Python Programming and Text Processing, Fall 2012

1. Prof. Liang Huang (huang @ cs), Instructor
   
2. Kai Zhao (z.kaayy @ gmail), TA
   
3. Xiuyi Huang (xiuyi @ cs), Admin

1. How to Think Like a Computer Scientist: Learning Python
2. The Official Python Tutorial

1. For questions, please come to office hours (the most effective way), or:
2. Newsgroup: cs3813780-qc@googlegroups.com (by default, questions should be posted here; check first if your question has already been asked before (most likely they have already been answered by other students); try your best to answer other people's questions; we both monitor it regularly).
   
3. Course Email: cs3813780.qc@gmail.com (it will reach both Prof/TA. Only for issues specific to you, e.g. why my code crashes, or I missed class today, etc. We will simply ignore questions that should have been posted to the newsgroup instead; so if you don't get your email answered in 24 hours, post them to the newsgroup.)
   
4. Do not email Prof/TA individually. We don't read those emails. By strictly enforcing the use of newsgroup and course email we can also keep track of class participation easily.

the 8% participation is made up of 3% in-class Q/A, 2% newsgroup/office hour participation, 3% catching/fixing bugs in class/exams/HWs and constructive suggestions (each obvious typo: 0.5%, each non-trivial bug or constructive suggestion: 1%, with a cap of 10%, i.e., if you catch 10 serious bugs your can potentially earn up to 15% (rather than the 8%) from class participation alone! (quickest way to boost your grade!)

1. homework is all about programming and you will submit to Blackboard.
2. no plagiarism: only high-level discussions are allowed (i.e., not relating to a single line of code), and you have to declare who you discussed with.
   
3. late penalty: you can turn in one HW late for up to 32 hours with no penalty. the second/third late HW will receive an automatic zero.
4. grading: 80% correctness, 10% efficiency, and 10% style. Correctness is done in a blackbox fashion, so make sure you conform to the strict I/O specifications and pass the sample I/Os. programs which do not comply will receive an automatic zero even if the logic is completely correct.
5. we strongly recommend that you use Linux or Mac. Windows users are not supported for technical questions; make sure your code passes sample I/O on a Linux or Mac before you submit. By default you can use the powerful linux machine cs12.cs.qc.cuny.edu.
6. Please use Python 2.7. It is installed on cs12, and Xiuyi has created account for everybody on it with 2.7 being your default python. Do NOT use Python 3 -- it's a separate experimental branch that is not backward compatible with Python 2.x.

1. For each exam (quiz/midterm) you have two chances: the in-class one and the take-home one, the former weighing more than the latter.
2. Exam questions are mostly fill-in-the-blanks type, but could also include some theory (e.g. complexity). Most questions are based on HW.
3. After each exam I will give you a projected final grade, which becomes more and more accurate towards the end.
4. Quiz 1 is on Tuesday 9/4, testing your CS background using Python. Don't worry about Python syntax, but do review datastructures (e.g., why is qsort O(nlogn)?). It'll be based on my slides and HW0. If I believe you are likely to fail in the end I'll tell you right away so that you can drop in time to receive a partial tuition refund.
5. Each quiz and exam will be announced at least one week ahead of time. I will try my best to avoid having quizzes/exams on major religious holidays but I can not promise to accommodate all requests since they might be conflicting.