This is the CS 11 Advanced Python Track admin page. If you have administrative questions about the course that aren't answered here, email Mike (see below) and we'll update the page to include the answer to the questions(s).
The course instructor is Mike Vanier (mvanier@cms.caltech.edu).
Mike's office is Annenberg 110. Mike's office hours are Tuesdays from 2 to 4 PM; email him if you want to meet at a different time.
There are no lectures in this track. Assignments will include relevant readings. Assignments are posted each Thursday or Friday and are due the next Thurday at 2 AM.
The first assignment describes how to set up a virtual machine (VM) with all the course software installed.
The "CMS cluster" is a group of computers located in the CMS instructional lab (Annenberg room 104). Even if you don't intend to use the CMS cluster computers at all (and, frankly, we recommend that you don't use them and instead use your own laptop computer), you still need to get a CMS cluster account, because you need to use the CMS cluster username/password to log in to the csman grading system (see below). To sign up for a CMS cluster account, go here.
If you had a CMS cluster account from a previous term, it still exists but may be inactive. To reactivate it you must contact the CMS cluster system administrators (sysadmins for short) to reset your account. Their names are Dave Leblanc and Pat Cahalan. Their office is in Annenberg 112 and they normally work from 9-5 (excluding lunch hour). If you forget your password or need to have your account reset you should see them, as they are the only ones who can help you. You can also email them at help@cms.caltech.edu. There is also a lot of information about the CMS cluster on the sysadmin website http://sysadmin.cms.caltech.edu), which you may want to consult.
Whatever else you do, please do not turn off any of the computers in the CMS instructional lab or unplug the internet cables from the CMS cluster computers! If you do, the sysadmins will be very displeased. Displeasing sysadmins is a very effective and rapid way to make your life worse. Note that there are empty tables with slots for internet cables where you can plug your own computer in if you like (or you can use WiFi instead, although it's somewhat slow).
Assignments should be submitted through csman. If you have a CMS cluster account, you can use the same username/password to log in to csman. The instructor will assign you to the CS 11 Advanced Python page of csman once you fill in the online questionnaire at the CS 11 Moodle page. If you are having a csman-related problem, contact the instructor (Mike Vanier).
If you've taken CS 1, you already know the grading policy for CS 4, because it's identical to CS 1's policy. Each assignment (lab) has multiple sections, each of which will receive an integer score from 0 to 3. The meaning of these scores are as follows:
The score for an entire assignment is the minimum score for all sections. This would be unfair if it wasn't for the rework policy.
Once your assignment has been graded, you have one (1) week after the grade is first submitted to rework it to improve your grade. Please take advantage of this! It's common to get e.g. a 1 grade on the initial submission and to use the rework period to bring the grade up to a 2 or a 3.
If an assignment is late when first submitted, marks are deducted at the rate of 0.5 marks/day. These marks can't be regained through rework. If a rework is late (i.e. is submitted more than one week after the original grade was submitted), it doesn't count, and the previous grade stands.
The course is graded pass/fail. The pass threshold requires 2 marks per assignment + 1, i.e. 13 marks if there are six assignments or 15 marks if there are seven assignments.
Please read this page for the CS 11 Advanced Python track collaboration policy.
Here is the teaching assistant for this track:
He is outstanding and we're lucky to have him.
The TA office hours are as follows:
TA office hours will be held in Annenberg 104.
In order to take advantage of the TA office hours, you should have after-hours access to the Annenberg building. This has been arranged for you automatically if you are registered for the course, but sometimes it takes a while to kick in. If you're having trouble with this (and especially if you registered late), email Mike. You can often get in by knocking on the window if there's someone in the lab (room 104). Also, sometimes (especially on very cold days) the card reader on the North side of the building doesn't work; in that case, the West side door's card reader generally still works.