Written exercises must be handed in as hard copy in Sean Gerrish's mailbox (floor 2, just outside the tea room, in the Computer Science building).

Homeworks are graded largely on getting the right answer or getting the program to work. Homeworks also contain more “free form” questions asking for exploration and experimentation. These questions will be graded more subjectively (as in the humanities). Ideal answers are thoughtful, perceptive, critical, clear, and concise.

All assignments are due at 11:59pm on the due date.

Each student will be allotted seven free days which can be used to turn in homework assignments late without penalty. For instance, you might choose to turn in the first homework two days late, and the third homework three days late. Once your free days are used up, late homeworks will be penalized 20% per day. For instance, a homework turned in two days late will receive only 60% credit. A weekend, that is, Saturday and Sunday together, count as a single late “day”. For instance, a homework that is due on Friday but turned in on Monday would be considered two days late, rather than three.

Homeworks may not be accepted for credit more than five days past the deadline, whether or not free days are being used. Even so, all homeworks must be credibly completed and turned in, even if this limit has passed. Failure to do so may result in a final grade of D or F, regardless of performance on other components of the course.

The final project cannot be turned in late, nor can written material be turned in beyond “Dean's Date” without a dean's permission.

Exceptions to these rules will of course be made for serious illness or other genuine emergency circumstances, and free late days should not be used for these purposes; in these cases, please contact a professor as soon as you are aware of the problem.

If you are turning in a late homework after hours when no one is around to accept it, please indicate at the top that it is late, and clearly mark the day and time when it was turned in. Failure to do so may result in the TA considering the homework to be submitted at the time when it was picked up (which might be many hours, or even a day or two after when you actually submitted it).

The collaboration policy for this course is based on the overarching objective of maximizing your educational experience, that is, what you gain in knowledge, understanding and the ability to solve problems. Obviously, you do not learn anything by copying someone else's solution. On the other hand, forbidding any and all discussion of course material may deprive you of the opportunity to learn from fellow students. The middle ground between these two extremes also needs to be defined with this basic principle in mind. Before working with another student, you should ask yourself if you would gain more or less by working together or individually, and then act accordingly. Here are some specific guidelines based on this principle:

• You are certainly free (and encouraged) to talk to others about the material in this course, or for general help with software, etc.

• Before working with someone else, you should first spend a substantial amount of time trying to arrive at a solution by yourself. Easier problems, including many or most of the written exercises, should be solved individually from start to finish.

• Discussing harder problems or programming assignments with fellow students is allowed to the extent that it leads all participants to a better understanding of the problem and the material. Following such discussions, you should only take away your understanding of the problem; you should not take notes, particularly on anything that might have been written down. This is meant to ensure that you understand the discussion well enough to reproduce its conclusions on your own. You should also note on your solution who you worked with.

• Needless to say, simply telling the solution to someone else is prohibited, as is showing someone a written solution or a portion of your code. Comparing code or solutions also is not generally permitted. However, comparing and discussing the results of experiments is okay if done in the spirit of the guidelines above.

• All writing and programming must be done strictly on your own. Copying of any sort is not allowed. Unless instructed otherwise, you may not use code or solutions taken from any student, from the web, from prior year solutions, or from any other source.