T-Th 9:05
or
T-Th 11:15
in Olin 155

CS 1110: Introduction to Computing Using Python

Spring 2018

Frequently Asked Questions

 
I need help, and am not sure I even know what to ask. If experience is any guide, you are not alone, and feeling lost doesn't mean you've done anything wrong.
  • Be aware of the standard resources: you can ask questions on Piazza (link in sidebar), talk to your lab instructor (see who leads each lab), come to consulting or TA or instructor office hours (schedule), or talk to the instructor(s) before or after lecture.
  • You can request individual on-campus business-hour appointments (contact info). We have limited ability to accommodate such requests and usually need some lead time to schedule, but we will do our best.
  • Tutoring offered by the University:
  • While they do not (as of Spring 2018) offer CS1110 tutoring, the Learning Strategies Center (LSC) has many excellent resources and seminars on succeeding at Cornell. Time management, the Cornell note-taking system, how best to use office hours, overcoming procrastination, making effective study groups, overcoming academic anxiety — learn about all these topics and more!
WHO/TO WHOM ...
Who is my section instructor? See the staff page.
To whom should I give my accommodations letter from Student Disability Services? Scan the letter (or ask the SDS office for an electronic version) and email it to the course instructor(s) with a cc: our Course Administrative assistant; see the staff page for this semester's email addresses.
To whom should I give a form that requires a signature? Particularly because of forms that require verification of grades, but also in general to streamline and prioritize the answering of student questions about course content, we don't handle form processing in lecture or in person. Rather, bring your form to the course administrative assistant (see the Staff page) for their name, office location, and contact information). They will retain your form and send you an email when the form has been signed and is ready for you to pick up. This may take a day or two.
WHERE ...
Where are the computer labs, and when are they free for me to use? Carpenter map; Blue room schedule; Green room schedule; Orange room schedule; Red room schedule; Phillips 318 map and schedule. These are the only labs guaranteed to use the right Python installation for CS 1110.
Where can I find more practice problems?
  • Download the demo code we post for each lecture, remove the contents, and try to reproduce what we did in class.
  • Check out some online coding-practice sites, such as CodingBat.
  • Look at the previous CS1110 exams and their solutions on the Exams page of the course website.
  • Refer to the exercises in your textbook.
  • Look at archived course websites from the CS Home Page and in other programming textbooks.
HOW ...
How do I print in a public lab?
How do I use Net-Print?		 Review the page about Net-Print from CIT.
How do I start an assignment? Read the assignment a few times. Don't expect to absorb it all at once. While reading the assignment, look for clues on what you need to do. When you've figured out the larger tasks, break those large problems into smaller and smaller tasks. Eventually, you can program those smaller tasks!
How do I become a consultant? See the Computer Science Undergraduate Course Staff Positions webpage.
MAY I ...
May I change my partner? You may have different partners for different projects, but you may not have more than one partner for any assignment. Please review the Assignments page.
May I use PyDef or an actual Python IDE?
May I program in a different language?		 You may not use another language. If you want, you may use an actual Python IDE such as PyDef, Wing IDE, or even the commercial Komodo IDE. However, if you do this, you are completely on your own; we only provide support for using a command shell. See our Python page.
WHY ...
Why do we use Python? We talk about this on the first day of class. Python is a modern, object oriented language that is much more accessible to beginners than traditional OO languages. It is also becoming popular for scientific computation, making it relevant to engineers who do not want to continue on with computer science.
On that note: CS 2110 is taught in a different language. Will I be prepared for it after taking CS 1110? CS 2110 is taught in Java, not Python. However, you will learn enough about the principles of object oriented programming in this class that you should be pick up Java with just a little bit of work. We have designed CS 2110 so that the beginning of the course will help you with this transition.
Why do we use Anaconda Python? While your computer may already have Python installed, it is important that everyone use the same version of Python for this class whenever possible. Anaconda is commonly used across platforms and has a variety of nice features.
Why do we use the command shell? As a scripting language, Python is designed with a command shell in mind.

Course Material by: E. Andersen, A. Bracy, D. Gries, L. Lee, S. Marschner, C. Van Loan, W. White