Grading Requirements

The assessment has three components: the programming tasks, exam components (including midterm and the final examination), and workshop quizzes.  The final mark for the unit will be calculated by combining the marks for all assessment tasks according to the percentage weightings shown in the assessment summary.

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, and
• Pass the hurdle requirement explained below

Assessment Tasks

Unless otherwise noted, all deadlines are by the Friday of the week stated.

Programming Tasks (Labs)

The two programming tasks together constitute a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

Throughout the semester you will engage in two programming tasks that are assessed individual work. These tasks develop your skills and assess your progress. These programming tasks are to be done in your own time, but you may also use workshop time to work on them and to seek assistance from the teaching staff.  They are due as specified on iLearn for each task. 

The programming tasks are designed to be completed over several weeks.  Do not leave them until the last week.  To encourage you to work throughout the period when the tasks are available, there are progress marks associated with each task.  You gain the progress marks by achieving milestones specified for the task by their due dates. Each milestone consists of a specified achievement level in a specified stage of the programming task.  If you do not achieve the milestone for a particular progress mark by the due time, then you lose the corresponding progress mark and your total progress mark score is reduced.  If you subsequently achieve the missed milestone by the due time of a later progress milestone, then you will be awarded that later progress mark.  You can only be awarded each progress mark once.  You can earn the progress marks in advance by achieving the milestones early, but you cannot recover lost progress marks by completing the work later. 

Hurdle Assessments

The two programming tasks are a hurdle in this unit.  You must achieve at least 40% in one of the two of the programming tasks in order to pass the unit.  Most students should easily be able to pass the hurdle.  But, in practice, you are unlikely to pass the unit unless you achieve at least pass marks (50%) in both of the programming tasks.  You are given a second chance to pass the hurdle by completing the second programming task with at least 40% marks.

Programming Tasks are Individual Work

The programming tasks are set as individual work and each one is personalised for a particular student. The University's academic honesty policy will be enforced. You may assist your fellow students with general concepts, pointers to resources and useful tools or commands that are publicly available. You may not become involved in any way in helping a fellow student to find the solution to their particular task, nor may you share with them any aspect of the solution of your particular task. If you decide to develop or modify a tool (including software tools, procedures or methods) to assist you in solving your programming task, you may not provide that tool to your fellow students, nor may you publish it.  Each practical task will include additional specific instructions to help you understand what is acceptable and what is not.

Each programming task must be the sole work of the student turning it in. Any cheating will be handled under the University's Academic Honesty Policy.

The following are guidelines on what collaboration is allowed for programming tasks and what is not [adapted from CS:APP website]

What is Cheating?

• Sharing code or other electronic files: either by copying, retyping, looking at, or supplying a copy of a file from this or a previous semester. Be sure to store your work in protected directories, and log off when you leave any lab computer, to prevent others from copying your work without your explicit assistance.  Don't use a public repository (such as github) for your programming task files.
• Sharing solutions, quizzes or exams: Looking at, copying, or supplying a programming task solution, quiz or exam.
• Sharing procedures, methods or tools that have been developed to solve challenges of a programming task. If you wish, you may develop your own procedures, methods or tools to assist you in the tasks, but you may not share them with others, publish them or store them in a public repository such as github.  If you find someone else's procedures, methods or tools, you may not use them -- if in doubt, ask the teaching staff of your registered class or the unit convenor.  For example, you may not provide or use somebody else's sequence of steps that can be followed to solve (or partially solve) a programming task. Similarly, you may not provide or use somebody else's program that is designed to solve (or partially solve) a stage of a programming task.
• Using other's code: Using code that you did not write yourself. You may not use code from courses at other institutions, or from any other non-COMP2100 source (e.g., software found on the Internet, such as ChatGPT).  You may, however, use Internet and other sources to learn useful concepts, ideas, and programming idioms.  If you find helpful ideas on the Internet or in other sources, you should acknowledge them in comments in your code.  For Internet sources, a URL is sufficient acknowledgement.
• Looking at other's code. Although mentioned above, it bears repeating. Looking at other students' code or allowing others to look at yours is cheating. There is no notion of looking ''too much,'' since no looking is allowed at all.

What is NOT Cheating?

• Clarifying ambiguities or vague points in class handouts or textbooks.
• Helping others use the computer systems, networks, compilers, debuggers, profilers, or other system facilities.
• Helping others with high-level design issues.
• Helping others with high-level (not code-based) debugging techniques.
• Using code from the CS:APP website or from the COMP2100 iLearn pages.
• Learning programming idioms and techniques from examples.
• Reading Unix manual pages, forums, etc in order to find out how to perform particular tasks (e.g. set a breakpoint in a debugger) or use programming language/library features (such as printf).
• Asking for help from the practical demonstrator, teaching staff or lecturer.  You may also seek help from the School of Computing's Drop-In Centre.

Be sure to store your work in protected directories, and log off when you leave any lab computer, to prevent others from copying your work without your explicit assistance.

Programming Task Submissions

Submission instructions for programming tasks will be provided on iLearn. The two tasks contain differing forms of automatic assessment and feedback tools that will assist you during the task.  The automated feedback will help you identify your mistakes, but does not replace your own analysis of the problem, debugging and testing.  The automated assessment contributes strongly to our understanding of your performance in the task. 

Each programming task will specify a particular due date. The due time will be 5:00pm on the due date unless otherwise specified.

Late submissions

Submissions in Data File Lab are made through the lab command;  submissions in Binary Bomb Lab are made automatically as you progress through the task of analysing and executing the "binary bomb" program.  The lab command automatically enforces submission deadlines.  However, there is provision for extensions in appropriate circumstances.

Free Extension Days

Throughout the unit, you can claim up to a total of three free extension days for due dates in the programming tasks. Free extension days can be used for any purpose, ranging from a single sick day to a sudden realisation of how to improve your solution. A free extension does not require any formal documentation, and you can use one or more of your free days instantly through the lab command - see the lab command documentation in the Lab Notes section on iLearn.

Free extensions are valuable and you are encouraged to meet the deadlines of the programming tasks whenever possible and conserve your free extension days in case you need them later in the semester. If you have free extension days remaining at the end of the semester, you may apply them to the closing date of the last programming task.

Free extensions can be applied to any due date - task closing dates or progress mark due dates.  In the opinion of the convenor, using a free extension for a progress mark due date is probably a waste of the free extension because the remaining progress marks and the final due date for the task will not be changed by the extension of a single progress mark deadline.  However, if you believe that extending the progress mark deadline is in your best interests, then please see the lab command documentation for details on how to do this.

Special Consideration

If you experience serious and unavoidable difficulties that affect your ability to meet the due dates for progress or the closing date of a programming task, you may apply for special consideration as explained at https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration. If the request is accepted, the action may be to grant an extension of the relevant due date(s), or it may be to require you to submit an alternative assessment item.  Extensions, if granted, are managed through the automated assessment system that you access via the lab command. 

If you apply for special consideration, please note:

• Apply promptly.  Late applications may make it impossible to sensibly offer an extension, and you may risk having to complete a different assessment task which would mean starting from scratch.  For example, if you are ill for two days just before the due date, an extension of two days would be reasonable, but that extension cannot be granted more than two days after the due date since the extension end date would have already passed!
• Email the convenor and unit lecturer to let us know what is happening.  This will make it easier for us to respond in a timely manner.  All such emails should be preceded with a title "COMP 2100: ".
  • During weeks 1-6, email young.lee@mq.edu.au and the convenor richard.han@mq.edu.au
  • During weeks 7-13, email richard.han@mq.edu.au
• Use free extension days initially.  If you have free extension days available, you can use them to claim a short free extension to enable you to continue working on the programming task and achieve your goal.  At the same time, you can lodge a formal special consideration request asking for the consideration that you need.  Send an email as above, letting us know that you have used your free extension days for special consideration.  If the special consideration is granted as an extension, we will convert your free extension into a formal special consideration extension (the lab command calls this an 'authorised' extension) and your free extension days will be returned to you. However, if the special consideration does not result in an extension, your free extension days will have been used.

Combining Special Consideration and Free Extensions

You can claim a free extension on top of a formal special consideration extension - the two extensions will be added together.  If that is not what you want, you should email as discussed above so that if special consideration is granted, your free extension can be converted to an authorised extension.

Weekly Online Quizzes

Short online quizzes will be provided in iLearn relevant to the content of each of weeks 1-12.  The quizzes are intended to help you assess your progress in learning and highlight areas that you need to study further.  Each quiz will be available for two weeks.  You may attempt a quiz multiple times.

The quizzes contribute up to 10% of your final mark, based on a maximum value of 1% for each quiz.  You can achieve full marks for the quizzes by earning a total of at least 10 marks in the quizzes.

Weekly quizzes will follow the late policy of applying via special consideration for an extension.

Late Assessment Policy

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration.

Our Late policy is summarized below.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

In this unit, late submissions will be accepted as follows: 

• Labs - YES, see policy defined previously in the section on Programming Task Submissions
• Weekly quizzes – YES, but only if Special Consideration is requested and approved
• Exams - YES, but only if Special Consideration is requested and approved

Week One

We introduce the class, go over the unit guide, and begin delivering technical content in the lecture slides and workshops.

Text Book

"Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective" 3rd edition, R.E. Bryant and D.R. O'Hallaron, Pearson 2015.

You are required to read set sections of the text book each week.  The text book is available in electronic form in the library, or you can purchase a printed copy from a book seller of your choice.

Recommended Text

"The C Programming Language" 2nd edition, Brian W Kernighan and Dennis M Ritchie, Prentice-Hall 1988.

This small book is the classic reference on C programming.

iLearn Web Site

All learning materials will be published on iLearn including lecture slides, programming tasks and other explanatory documentation.  We will also be making key announcements via iLearn as well as answer questions in the unit's Forum.

Lectures

Lectures are a core learning experience where we will discuss the theoretical underpinnings and concepts that are essential to this unit. Key ideas for the programming tasks will be discussed from time to time in lectures. 

Lectures will be provided in person.  Participation in lectures is not required but is highly recommended. Lecture recordings will be provided on echo360.

Workshops

Each week it is important to attend your workshop/practical.  We will be using the workshop to cover important concepts that may be useful to solving weekly quiz questions, programming/lab issues, and/or exam questions.  Also, we will be using the workshops to administer exams, where in such cases attendance is mandatory in order to take the exams. Workshops also provide an opportunity to discuss specific questions related to any aspect of the unit: the lecture content, the programming tasks and the set practical questions.

Workshops provide an opportunity for you to develop your skills in systems programming and your understanding of the key concepts of the unit. Workshops combine discussion with practical programming experience.  Your workshop teaching staff will provide you with individual assistance and may also from time to time address the entire class to provide useful information to assist with programming tasks.

Unit Forum

A forum for unit discussions is provided on iLearn. Students are free to post questions, comments or hints in relation to any aspect of the unit, except that you should avoid posting any questions, hints, comments or solutions that could be interpreted as cheating (see above).  Civility is essential in all such postings and interactions.

Don't post your code, or anyone else's code, on the forums!

If you see a post from another student that appears to be cheating, please email the unit convenor and current lecturer with "COMP 2100: " in the title, and we will remove the offending post.

Drop-In Centre for the School of Computing

You may seek assistance to have your general technical questions pertaining to class content answered at the Drop-In Centre for the School of Computing.  For more information about the Centre's hours and capabilities, please consult their schedule.  While Centre staff may be able to answer general technical questions, the final authority for answering all technical matters and policy specific to COMP 2100 resides with the COMP 2100 staff and tutors/TAs.

General Communication and Contact

For general administrative questions relating to the unit, please email the unit convenor and current lecturer.  Emails should be preceded in the title with "COMP 2100: ".  For specific technical questions,  first contact your workshop/practical tutor/TA, use the Unit Forum and/or use the School of Computing's Drop-In Centre.  If your technical question cannot still be resolved, please email the current lecturer with "COMP 2100: " in the title. 

The detailed unit schedule will be available on iLearn. The unit is organised into two 6-week periods, with topics approximately as follows.

Week 1-6: C programming, Command line interface, Data representations (integer and float), some system API.

Weeks 7-12: Assembly code and how C programs appear in the machine, Operating System features and implementation.

There are no significant changes from the previous offering.