| CS150 | Labs | Projects | Assignments | CodeSamples | Help Resources | Style Guide |
Lab Description
The lab portion of CS150 is designed to give you practical experience with the theory presented in lecture and your book. The labs will also provide you with the skills needed to complete the programming projects.
Preliminaries
Computer literacy is a prerequisite for this course. You are expected to be comfortable working in various computing environments. Our lab and programming project work will be completed on PC's running Windows NT 4.0 or the Apple Power Mac G4 running Mac OS9. We will be using the Metrowerks CodeWarrior Integrated Development Environment to create and run our programs. Since the C++ files we create can easily be transferred from one platform to the other, you can essentially work on either a PC or a Mac. The labs are currently equipped with CodeWarrior 6.0. The CodeWarrior environment is introduced in Lab Exercise 1.
Grading
The labs count for 25% of your final grade. Each lab session is worth 5 points. You get one point for arriving on time, three points for turning in a reasonably complete exercise, and one point for staying until the end of the lab period and properly checking out. Attendance will be taken at the start and the end of each lab session. Credit for preparation, attendance and participation will be given if you are present at both of these times.
Laboratory Protocol
Laboratory sessions will generally start with a short presentation or explanation of the lab. You are expected to arrive on time and participate. Labs exercises are due at the end of each lab session - late work will receive less credit (1 point per week). If you finish a lab early, you should devote the remaining part of the lab session to working on the current programming project. If you can not finish a lab and have stayed for the entire lab period, you will be granted a one week extension to finish. If you have completed and correctly turned in the current programming project you may be excused early.
The lab environment is more informal than lecture, but it is a work environment nonetheless. No game playing, web surfing, CD players or work on other courses is allowed during scheduled lab sessions. Make sure that you read and understand the posted lab rules (no food or drink please). In general, use common sense and respect the rights of others. When working in the lab, it is a good idea to take short breaks to stretch and move around a bit.
The laboratory is generally unavailable to you when other laboratory sections are scheduled. The schedule for each lab is posted outside the door - check the laboratory schedule before you enter the labs in Darwin. If you wish to use a computer when another class is scheduled, be sure to ask for the instructor's permission first; instructors differ in their policies. Availability during open times is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Saving
When editing your files, make sure that you save your work often. Save every few minutes, or each time you increase the code size by a page, or according to your pace; but save -- don't risk the loss of your considerable time and effort. You may choose to save new code by overwriting old (previously saved) code, or you may find it useful to save different versions as your work progresses. Also, as you improve your programming skills, you may discover that some of your old code may be reusable in a subsequent project. Also, be sure to keep multiple backup copies of your work. You must be able to produce an electronic version of all labs and programming projects - there are many reasons why your work can be lost after it is submitted for grading.