Overview
.html to .md, you’ll see
it in the same form that I type it. Some students keep it on their
Web browser and regularly hit refresh.) (Well, it will work eventually.)I don’t have prior experience in CS. Will I be at a disadvantage?
I don’t think so. We designed the course so that it does not require and prior knowledge. When we first taught CSC 151, one of the first things we did was explain how to use a Web browser. Fortunately, most people know that now.
I have prior experience in CS. Will I be at a disadvantage?
I hope not. However, you’ll find that much of what you learned is not immediately applicable; Racket requires you to think in different ways. On the other hand, you will gain some advantage from having worked in a formal language.
Dear Professor Rebelsky,
Please call me “Sam”.
Why do you ask us to call you “Sam”?
Option 1: Most of you have told me that you prefer to be addressed by first name. Shouldn’t I expect the same?
Option 2: It’s an exercise in power dynamics. The “Sam” makes us appear equal/informal. But I force you to call me “Sam”, which is a power play.
Option 3: My experience is that the classroom functions better when you can refer to me by first name. It feels friendlier.
When can I text you?
Not between 10pm and 8am (unless absolutely necessary).
When you really need help, and you’ve already tried email with URGENT.
The setup script doesn’t work as advertised in the Linux lab.
Sam screwed up. He is very sorry. It does work in the WWW lab.
The “Enable Scripts” instructions refer to a blue S. I don’t have one.
Our SysAdmin appears to have made different decisions for setting up accounts this semester than they have made in the past. Skip those instructions.
How often will you screw up?
Daily. Perhaps more often.
On that note, don’t type the angle brackets when you enter
file:///home/username/Desktop/myfile.txt.
What do I have to turn in?
We’ll let you know when there are about ten minutes left in the class.
Why are there two sets of instructions, one short and one long?
To reinforce the idea that there are multiple ways to express algorithms.
Because some people can deal with short instructions and some prefer a longer explanation.
The original version of the lab had only long instructions. Sam got fed up with those and wrote short ones instead.
Since my Web page doesn’t work as advertised, what should I use instead?
file:///home/username/public_html/thingy.html
This lab is too long!
Yes, it appears to be. No worries. You can try a little bit more on your own, but it’s okay if you don’t finish this lab.
Will things always go wrong?
Yes. Think back to the first day of class. It’s funny when things go wrong.
What do you call < and >?
It depends on the context. In math, “less than” and “greater than”. In the context of HTML and XML tags, “left angle bracket” and “right angle bracket”. In some DrRacket contexts, I call it “prompt”.
What do you call #?
I tend to say “pound” or “octothorpe”. Also “hash” and “mesh”.
What’s the difference between a tag and an attribute?
Both indicate aspects of text. I think of the tag as providing the main characteristic and the attributes as providing additional information.
<quotation mode='spoken' author='Sam'>...</quotation>marks a quotation whose mode attribute is “spoken” and whose author attribute is “Sam”.
Who is my homework partner?
Whoever you worked with in class today.
When do we work on homework?
Outside of class, with your partner.