Programming Assignment Checklist: Hello World

Questionnaire

Part of this assignment is to fill out the following brief questionnaire.

Goals

Regardless of the operating system that you choose, the goal of Assignment 0 is to make sure that you can:

• Familiarize yourself with the course web page and booksite.

• Edit, compile, and execute a Java program.

• Submit your assignment electronically via the course web page.
  Note: you won't be able to submit an assignment until you are registered in our system for a precept.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a checklist? The programming assignment specifies the general programming assignment. The checklist contains supplemental information, and you are expected to read it prior to submitting your work. Some examples include: links to any preliminary code, reference solutions, a readme.txt template, hints, and frequently asked questions.

I don't understand all of the jargon in HelloWorld.java. Should I drop the course? Absolutely not! We'll explain this in the first or second precept. Do the readings and and bring any lingering questions to the first precept.

It's the first week of class. Do I really need to start reading the text? Yes. Getting off to a good start will save you alot of energy in the long run. We urge you to stay on top of the material from the beginning. If you don't understand something, email or visit your preceptor for assistance. Don't be bashful about asking for help.

Do I have to use DrJava? No, if you prefer another development environment, go right ahead.

How should I read in user input? Use command line inputs as described in Sections 1.1 and 1.2. We will learn about other ways to handle user input in Section 1.5.

Can I assume all user input is valid data? Yes. We will learn about dealing with erroneous data next week.

Is Java case-sensitive? Yes, uppercase and lowercase letters are different. class HelloWorld is not the same as clASS helloWorld. Furthermore, you must specify the file names with the proper case.

What's the "Run Script" button on the assignment submission page? It compiles your programs and reports any errors. You must submit all of the required files before it becomes activiated.

What's Moodle? Moodle is the system you will use to submit assignments and check grades. We use it instead of Blackboard since processing large numbers of electronic submissions in Blackboard is not feasible.

When I login to Moodle, my browser asks me whether I should accept a "security certificate." How should I proceed? Accept it permanently. We need to establish a secure connection so that you can submit assignments and check grades with reasonable privacy.

Submission

Here are some guidelines. You will lose a substantial number of points if you don't follow these instructions.

Submission. All assignments submissions are electronic.

• Use the web-based submission system. We do not accept email or hardcopy submissions.

• Be sure that every file you submit includes your name, login, and precept number.

• The assignment specifies exactly which filenames to use. These names are case-sensitive.

• After you have submitted all of the required files, be sure to hit the Run Script button (and correct any compilation errors).

Formatting.

• Format your code consistently. We recommend using 4 spaces for each indentation level. 3 spaces is also fine.

• Do not use hard tabs. Different systems and tools display and print hard tabs differently. Hard tabs are obsolete: in ancient times, they were used for data compression. Instead, configure your editor to use soft tabs so typing the tab character inserts spaces.

• Do not exceed 80 characters per line. Long lines are hard to read and will annoy your grader. Use line breaks as needed. This rule applies to the readme.txt file as well.

• The readme.txt file must be a text file - create it using the same editor that you use to write your Java programs. Do not submit .doc or .pdf files.

Writeup. Here's a link to this week's readme.txt file.

Enrichment

Here's the ACM Hello World Page. It contains everyone's first program in over 200 programming languages.