CMSC 201 NEWS

  • Announcements

    • Items are posted in reverse chronological order (i.e., newest to oldest).

  • Proj5 Extension

    • Posted: 12/11/05

    The project 5 due date has been extended one day to Monday, 12/12/05.

  • Proj5 Data file update

    • Posted: 12/10/05

    There was a problem with the data file, arith.dat. It did not have a newline at the end. The problem has been corrected. Please be sure to copy the updated data file. Here is the command:

    cp /afs/umbc.edu/users/s/b/sbogar1/pub/arith.dat .

  • Proj4 Sample Solution

    • Posted: 12/10/05

    Finally!! A sample solution to Project 4 has been posted. You should note that there were many, many possible solutions.

  • Programming From Home

    • Posted: 11/29/05

    Have you ever wished that you could use a graphical version of Xemacs while programming at home in Windows? Here is your chance to learn how, without having to install Linux! Dan Hood is giving a talk, Working From Home, on Wednesday, 11/30, at noon in LH 8. You don't want to miss it!!

  • Additional data files for Project 4

    • Posted: 11/27/05

    I added another set of data files for you to use to test Project 4. They are called langs-letters.dat and langs-words.dat. You can copy them with the following commands:

    cp /afs/umbc.edu/users/s/b/sbogar1/pub/langs-letters.dat .

    cp /afs/umbc.edu/users/s/b/sbogar1/pub/langs-words.dat .

  • Programming Contest Winners !!!

    • Posted: 11/22/05

    Congratulations to the first place winners of the CSCOM Programming Contest !! The winning team which solved 4 problems correctly within the given time limit was comprised of Jonathan Feng from CMSC 201, section 0105, David Conrad from CMSC 201 Honors and Gregory Meier also from 201 Honors.

    CMSC 201 also fielded the second place team. That team was comprised of Daniel Bennett from 201H, Thiraphat Pongsudhiraks from section 0103 and Bryan Wilkinson from section 0104. This team solved 3 problems.

    The CSCOM president, Dalibor Zeleny, reports that everyone had a good time and there was PLENTY of FOOD !!!! Next time maybe we can get some more people to join in.

  • 201 Schedule for Thanksgiving Week

    • Posted: 11/15/05

    Happy Thanksgiving !!!
    There will be no labs held the week of 11/21 - 11/25.
    There will be no lecture on Wed or Thurs, 11/23 - 11/24.
    There will also be no office hours held Wed - Fri, 11/23 - 11/25
    Soumi will be holding office hours on Monday, 11/21 from 12:30 - 2:30 PM
    Computer Science Help Center hours will probably be limited that week.

  • Computer Science Council Of Majors Programming Contest

    • Posted: 11/10/05

    The Computer Science Council of Majors is organizing a programming competition followed by discussion of what it takes to be a CS major and what is going on in upper level CS classes. We will also discuss how CS is taught in high schools. The event will take place on Friday, Nov. 18th, from 4 PM to about 8 - 9 PM. More information is given at the contest website. If you would like to participate, or if you have any questions, contact Dalibor Zeleny at zelenyd1@gl.umbc.edu

    Here is some information about the event:

    Time: Friday, November 18th (no projects are due) Place: MP 104 for registration, food, and discussion Some lab for the competition Description: Teams of three will compete. Each team will be given a problemset, two hours, and a computer. Online documentation will freely accessible as well as lecture notes or any other online materials you wish to use. Just don't use IM or any other online chatting program/website. You may also bring any printed or handwritten notes you want for reference. You are not expected to solve all the problems in that time period. In fact, we will be very impressed if you do. Problems vary from a simple "store the maximum and print it" kind of problem to problems that are harder in the sense that they require some thought, but then only about ten lines of code inside main once you figure them out. You don't need to have 2 other friends to come and compete. You can come just by yourself. We will team you up with someone else who comes just by himself (or perhaps with just one teammate). We might also tell you about our experience here at UMBC, and perhaps give you some ideas how other CS classes you'll have to take look. Just ask. Schedule: 4:00 - 5:00 ... team registration and food (MP 104) 5:00 - 6:00 ... introduction, orientation, practice problem (labs) 6:00 - 8:00 ... contest (labs) 8:00 - end .... (in random order): discussion of problems, (MP 104) discussion of CS in high schools, announcing winners of the contest Purpose: The idea of the event is to promote teamwork which is said to be important in the real world. You will also have a chance to practice your programming skills and talk to students in upper-level classes. We're thinking about organizing a similar event for high schools sometime in the future, so we would like to get some input from 201 and 202. We would like to know how the contest problems reflect what they've been taught in CS courses in their high schools. We would also like to discuss how CS is taught in high schools. We chose these students since they probably still have a good memory of what they were doing in high school. The contest attendance is capped at 45 people (15 teams) because we won't have more space or food available. But if you decide to come and we already have 45 people, feel free to come to the discussion session after the contest. Thank you, Dalibor Zeleny President of the CS Council of Majors

  • Linux Installfest

    • There will be a Linux Installfest on October 1st in the ENG Atrium from 1 to 6 PM, at which the good geeks of UMBC's Linux Users Group will be available to put Linux on your PC. Linux can be installed on your machine in place of Windows, or along-side it. The following rules and suggestions ought to be kept in mind: * To save time, PLEASE DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARD DRIVE before you come. This will shorten your install time by several hours. * Please, BRING YOUR OWN MONITOR. We cannot provide monitors for everyone. * The LUG will do all it can to preserve your data, but fubars do happen. Therefore you should BACK UP YOUR DATA if at all possible. * The last install will begin at 4:30 PM, so you should come before then. On a slow computer, installation could take several hours. Thanks very much, and we hope to see you there.

  • Your Quota

    • Keep an eye on your quota!! Each user is given a certain amount of disk space (100MB) on the GL network. If you exceed this disk space, we cannot send you email (i.e. project grades) and you can't create files (i.e. project files) To check your quota, at the linux prompt, type: linux3[16]% quota -v Volume Name Quota Used %Used Partition user.dforna1 75000 55198 74% 69% This will show how much disk space your are using. If the percentage used is approaching 100%, you need to clean up your account. This can be done by typing the following at the linux prompt: linux3[17]% oitcleaner This is the cleaner that we want Volume Name Quota Used %Used Partition user.dforna1 250000 55198 74% 69% **** Start Quota **** **** Start: Cleaning Internet Files **** find: /afs/umbc.edu/users/d/f/dforna1/home/.2kprofile/Application Data/Mozilla/Profiles: No such file or directory **** Done: Cleaning Internet Files **** **** Start: Cleaning Misc. Files **** find: No match. rm: remove `/afs/umbc.edu/users/d/f/dforna1/home/file.c~'? y rm: No match. rm: No match. rm: No match. rm: No match. **** Done: Cleaning Misc. Files **** **** Finding Large Files **** rm: remove `/afs/umbc.edu/users/d/f/dforna1/home/cs104FA01.tar.gz'? n rm: remove `/afs/umbc.edu/users/d/f/dforna1/home/gifs/menu3.gif'? y rm: remove `/afs/umbc.edu/users/d/f/dforna1/home/gifs/menu3.bmp'? y **** Finished **** Volume Name Quota Used %Used Partition user.dforna1 250000 52913 71% 69% **** End Quota **** This script will clear out some unnecessary files in your account. It will also ask you if you want to delete any large files it finds. You must answer either y or n when it prompts you to remove. Make sure to remove any files named core.[followed by four digits].

    For more information about your quota, visit the following OIT Web site: http://www.umbc.edu/oit/sans/helpdesk/afs/afs_disk_quota.htm

  • .emacs


    • EMACS -- when emacs (or xemacs) begins, it looks for and reads a file named .emacs in your home directory to obtain configuration information. Save the CS201 recommended version of the .emacs file (note the leading "dot") in your Unix home directory to get the following features:

    The .emacs file is publicly available in the directory

    /afs/umbc.edu/users/s/b/sbogar1/pub

    To copy the file, 'cd' to your home directory and type the command

    cp /afs/umbc.edu/users/s/b/sbogar1/pub/.emacs . Don't forget the dot (.) at the end... it means copy the file to the current directory.

    Enjoy!

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