01: Intro

Estimated time to complete: about three hours (or under ten minutes, if you don't need to run through the Python tutorial)

This introductory assignment exists primarily to make sure you can log into the Edlab and make submissions through Gradescope. You should also set aside some time to familiarize yourself with Python.

Logging into Gradescope

Go to the Gradescope web site (https://gradescope.com/) and sign up using the email address that you have listed in SPIRE. When you sign up in Gradescope, you'll need a course entry code. Ours is on the course Moodle page.

Do not wait until the due date to start this process. If the Gradescope site tells you it does not recognize your email address, you should contact the course staff immediately to create an account for you. "I added the course late and didn't know I needed to ask for a Gradescope account", "I forgot my Gradescope password" and the like will not be accepted as an excuse for not submitting this or any other assignment on time.

Logging into the Edlab

If you are not a UMass Computer Science student, the Edlab may be foreign to you. Use the username and password system we discussed in class, or drop by CSCF, located on the first floor of the CS building, or email them at system@cs.umass.edu, and ask about setting up your Edlab account (distinct from your UMass IT account). Again, do not wait until the due date to start this process.

The assignment

If you are unfamiliar with Python, work through the Python 3.5 tutorial (at least through Section 8), linked to the top level Python 3.5 documentation. If you know Java and/or at least one other scripting language, you should be able to get through this in a few hours.

If you are familiar with Python 2 but new to Python 3, you will want to read over (at least) the "Common Stumbling Blocks" described in What's New in Python 3.0.

Python 3.5 is installed on the Edlab as python3. You may want to install Python on your local machine. You may also want to fiddle around with installing IPython (a better interactive shell for Python than the default interpreter), Jupyter (a browser-based interactive programming environment for Python and many other languages), PyDev (an Eclipse plugin for Python development), and/or PyCharm (a Python IDE from the same people who make the IntelliJ IDEA).

Then, upload to Gradescope your answers to the following questions. For full credit, you must answer "yes" to each question. (Ideally your answer is honest, but hey, up to you.)

1. (1 point) Are you enrolled in the course?
2. (2 points) Have you logged into the Edlab remotely at least once?
3. (10 points) Have you finished the Python 3.5 tutorial through at least Section 8, or do you have equivalent previous programming experience with Python 3?