Practice office-finding, introduce yourself, and dissect a computer.

Assignment Manifest

Each CS 240 assignment starts with an assignment manifest describing due dates, the honor code policy for collaboration and submissions, how to find starter code (if any), how to submit your work, and a list of topics that are good reference.

(Orange boxes mark key information or warnings.)

Contents

Reading

Complete the reading associated with the first class. Remember, a couple copies of CSAPP are available for use in the SCI microfocus lab.

CS Account

If you have not taken a Wellesley CS course before, please complete the relevant form to request a Wellesley CS account:

Visit

The corner of each CS 240 page contains buttons that jump to:

  • the ▲ top of the page
  • the ☰ table of contents, if any
  • the ▼ bottom of the page

(Blue boxes mark optional asides.)

After you have read the syllabus, visit your class instructor individually or in a small group during office hours or an appointment within a week of the first course meeting. This visit is intended as a first chance for Ben to get to know you (and your name/pronouns), to answer questions you may have about course mechanics, and to help you feel welcome and comfortable visiting office hours or making an appointment for any reason in the future. (You will soon get acquainted one-on-one during lab with Jean, your lab instructor, but feel free to visit earlier.)

Let’s be sure to talk about:

  1. Your name and pronouns. Here are ours:
    • Your instructors prefer to go by first name: “Ben” (he/him/his), “Jean” (she/her/hers).
    • “Professor…” also works if that is more comfortable for you.
  2. CS courses you have taken, are taking, or hope to take in the future.
  3. Excitement, concerns, or questions about this course.
  4. Something non-academic about you that is unlikely to be true about any of your CS 240 classmates.

Routefinding

The office-finding component of this assignment will be more fun than in past years. For the 2018-2019 year, Ben’s office has moved to remote SCI S580 (with Scott and Takis next door), and construction on the L wing has introduced walls that make finding the office from the main CS area something like searching diagonally beyond the back wall of the Leaky Beaker.1

Ben will hold some regular drop-in hours in the SCI microfocus lab space during the semester, but to make sure you can find the office later if needed, all first-week hours (for this assignment) will be in SCI S580.2 Bring a friend if you prefer.

Grading

This assignment is required, but not graded.

  1. Thanks to Kasey Shen and Sam Mincheva (both CS 240 Spring 2015 alums) for inspiration in developing this assignment title. ↩

  2. If you need a hint, SCI S580 is at the top of the northwest tower of SCI, in the farthest corner diagonally across the science center and beyond the Leaky Beaker when coming from SCI E111, the microfocus, and most CS offices and facilities. Go exploring! ↩