EBoard 19: Software engineering basics (Section 2)

Please follow the standard start-of-class routine.

Warning! You are being recorded (and transcribed) (provided the technology is working correctly).

Approximate overview

  • Administrative stuff
  • Lab

Administrative stuff

Introductory Notes

  • I hope you had a good and healthy weekend.
  • If you struggled on tracing, we could try doing a tracing quiz together in my office. For many students, that seems to be the thing that gets them through.
  • It looks like few of you are reviewing the comments on your readings and such. Please take a moment or two to check comments.
  • I’m going to try an experiment today. Rather than going through all of the administrative stuff, I’m going to trust you to read most of it on your own. (Use Teams if you have questions.)

On mid-semester assessments / Getting help

  • I entered mid-semester assessments over the weekend.
    • If you have completed five or more LAs, I entered a mid-semester assessment of S (“Solid Performance”)
    • If you have only completed four LAs, I entered a mid-semester assessment of M (“Marginal Performance”).
    • If you have completed three or fewer LAs, I entered a mid-semester assessment of R (“Risk of Failure”).
  • If you received an R, I have also contacted you and entered an Academic Alert. If you received an M, I will be contacting you and entering an academic alert. In both cases, please plan to meet with me this week or immediately after break.
  • I will be unavailable most of Thursday. Tuesday is my primary day for regular office hours, but I found some times between classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Email me to claim them: Monday 1:30-2:30, Tuesday 8:00-11:00, Wednesday 1:30-2:30, and Thursday 9:00-11:00

If you feel like you are struggling, even if you have an M or S, you might consider the following questions.

  • Are you taking advantage of the mentor sessions and, if so, are those helpful?
  • Would it help to meet with me regularly to talk about topics?
  • Would it be helpful to go over quizzes and labs with the evening tutors?
  • Would it be helpful to meet with someone in Academic Success to consider study skills?
  • Would it be helpful to set up a study group for the class where you and other students can meet to discuss questions?
  • What else might help?

Upcoming work

  • Due Tuesday, 2026-10-13
  • Due Thursday, 2026-10-15
  • On Friday, 2026-09-16
    • NEW Quiz/LA on testing (one of today’s topics)
    • NEW Quiz/LA on local bindings (Wednesday’s topic)
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on collaboration (hopefully not)
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on lists and list operations
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on conditionals
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on compose, cut, and section
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on tracing
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on decomposition (hopefully not)
    • Makeup Quiz/LA on procedures (hopefully not)
  • Due Tuesday, 2026-10-27
    • Mini-project 2 redo
      • Submit redo on Gradescope (forthcoming)
      • When submitting a mini-project redo, please include a file called CHANGES.txt that describes what you’ve changed.
      • Please add the following line to the top of your file. (export ...).

Upcoming activities

Scholarly

  • Tuesday, 13 October 2026, Noon–1:00 p.m., CS Commons. CS Table: The Complexity of Songs
  • Thursday, 15 October 2026, 11:00 a.m.–noon, JRC 101. Scholars’ Convocation: Unknown Topic

Artistic/Cultural

  • Any day. Visit the GCMOA for at least 30 minutes.

Multicultural

  • Friday, 30 October 2026, 4:10–5:00 p.m., HSSC N1170 Middle of Everywhere (Somewhere)

Peer

Musical, theatric, sporting, academic, and similar events involving this section’s students are welcome.

  • Friday, 16 October 2026, 6:00–8:00 p.m., RKO Natatorium. Swimming and Diving vs. Augustana
  • Saturday, 17 October 2026, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., Springer Field. Men’s Soccer vs. Lawrence University
  • Sunday, 18 October 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m., Springer Field. Men’s Soccer vs. Gustavas Adolphus College
  • Saturday, 24 October 2026, 1:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m., Rosenbloom Field. Football vs. Cornell College

Wellness

  • Monday, 12 October 2026, 8:00–9:00 p.m., Prayer Garage in the CRSSJ. Meditation Group
  • Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 4:30–6:00 p.m., Bear P103. Wellness Yoga
  • Wednesday, 14 October 2026, 4:15–5:45 p.m., Undisclosed Location. Forest Bathing

Misc

  • Wednesday, 14 October 2026, 8:00–9:00 p.m., Science 3820. Mentor Session
  • Thursday, 15 October 2026, 8:00–9:00 p.m., Science 3820. Mentor Session

Other good things

These do not earn tokens, but are worth your consideration.

  • Tuesday, 13 October 2026, 4:00–6:00 p.m., Springer Field. Women’s Soccer vs. UW La Crosse
  • Saturday, 17 October 2026, 1:30–3:30 p.m., Springer Field. Women’s Soccer vs. Lawrence University

Lab

Make sure the Scheme file has the semester in it (2026Fa). Reload if it doesn’t.

Palindrome tests

  • Odd-length palindrome. (#t)
  • Even-length palindrome. (#t)
  • Odd-length non-palindrome (#f)
  • Even-length non-palindrome (#f)
  • One-letter word (#t)
  • Empty string (#t)
  • Non-string (#f) - optional
  • Longest known valid English-language palindrome
  • Mixed case