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Assignment 0: Logistics & Setup

(Due on Tueday, January 26th 11:59PM)

For this assignment, nothing needs to be turned in. Just make sure you fill out and submit the requested forms and finish the required setup.

Introduction

Welcome back! We're super excited that you'll be joining us for an awesome semester. As you might already know this course covers all aspects of web and mobile application development from initial conception to deployment, from front-end user-centric design to back-end development and databases, and from individual technical growth to team based assignments. In fact, what you learn in this class will ultimately culminate in a group term project where you'll be working on an actual web or mobile application for a client! Before we get to that, let's go over some logistics and expectations.

Expectations

Although this course doesn't have any prerequisites, it's important to note that this course is a 1000 level CS course meant to teach students how to develop modern web applications. What this means is that we'll work with a lot of new technologies and it is the responsibility of the student to use all of the resources presented in order to have a solid understanding of the material. We boast an extremely talented pool of TAs, and we will regularly update the course's resources tab with useful, supplementary materials! We suggest reading the home page if you'd like more track-specific expectations.

This course is also part of the Ethics TA initiative, which means that we will be addressing some topics relating to web and mobile applications in the world. We’re especially focusing on accessibility, privacy, and long-term impact. Over the course of the semester, you’ll be expected to do tasks like creating an accessible website or creating a privacy policy for your final project. Stay tuned!

Requirements and Forms

Registration

If you haven't already, please register for the class so that we can get all of you aboard as fast as we can. If you have any issues registering for the class, please email cs1320headtas@lists.brown.edu. For Spring 2021, CS132 will be taking place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10am-10:50am on zoom synchronously.

Expectations

Although this course doesn't have any prerequisites, it's important to note that this course is a 1000 level CS course meant to teach students how to develop modern web applications. What this means is that we'll work with a lot of new technologies and it is the responsibility of the student to use all of the resources presented in order to have a solid understanding of the material. We boast an extremely talented pool of TAs, and we will regularly update the course's resources tab with useful, supplementary materials! We suggest reading the home page if you'd like more track-specific expectations.

This course is also part of the Ethics TA initiative, which means that we will be addressing some topics relating to web and mobile applications in the world. We’re especially focusing on accessibility, privacy, and long-term impact. Over the course of the semester, you’ll be expected to do tasks like creating an accessible website or creating a privacy policy for your final project. Stay tuned!

Collaboration Policy

In order to participate in the class, you will need to complete the collaboration policy at this link.

We cannot grade any of your assignments until you've submitted this form. Please complete the collaboration policy by Tuesday, January 26th @ 11:59PM.

Pre-course feedback form

You also need to complete a very short pre-course feedback form at this link.

This form will help us understand your familiarity with some of the ethics topics we’ll be addressing in the course. You will get completion points for this form, which will be part of the ethics component of your grade. Please complete the pre-course feedback form by Tuesday, January 26th @ 11:59 PM.

Piazza

Our course will be using Piazza for assignment related questions and announcements. Use this link to join.

Gradescope

We will be using Gradescope for all assignment submissions. In order to make sure that we are grading you anonymously, please follow these steps to sign up for Gradescope:

If you are new to Gradescope:

  1. Go to http://www.unit-conversion.info/texttools/ to generate an anonymous ID. Click the “generate” button when the page loads and copy the output.
  2. Sign up as a student on gradescope.com with the following information:
    • The course entry code is YVD627
    • Instead of using your real name, use the anonymous ID you created instead
    • Use your cslogin for the student ID
  3. Fill out this form with the Gradescope ID you created

If you already have a Gradescope account:

  1. Log in to your account and click on the “account” box in the bottom left
  2. Then select “edit account”
  3. Re-enter your password if you are prompted to do so
  4. Go to http://www.unit-conversion.info/texttools/ to generate an anonymous ID. Click the “generate” button when the page loads and copy the output. If you already have an anonymous ID from another course, feel free to use that instead.
  5. Replace your real name with the anonymous ID
  6. Set your student ID to your cslogin
  7. Only after doing this, go to the main Gradescope page and enroll in the course using the entry code YVD627
  8. Fill out this form with the Gradescope ID you created

Setup

Node.js

This section is only required for local setup. If you only plan to develop on department machines, you can ignore this section. We recommend you complete this section to get familiar with setting up the Node.js development environment.

Use this link to install Node.js, an open-source, cross-platform, JavaScript runtime environment that executes JavaScript code outside of a browser. You will install 14.15.4 LTS, where LTS stands for Long Term Support.

In case the recommended settings isn’t applicable, Node.js Downloads provides more advanced download options.

VSCode

There are many possible IDEs or editors to use for JavaScript development. We will be using Visual Studio Code (VSCode) for pair programming this semester.

Visual Studio Code is already installed in department machines. You can bring it up either from Application Finder/Development or by running code in the terminal. If you are working locally, please install it using the link above.

The following are a list of VSCode extensions that are required for this class:

VSCode

There are many possible IDEs or editors to use for JavaScript development. Officially, we recommend Visual Studio Code (VSCode).

Git

Imagine you are trying to fix bugs in your project. You want the ability to easily “revert back” to checkpoints so that you can test out fixes. Luckily, Git can provide you with such abilities.

Git (/ɡɪt/) is a distributed version-control system for tracking changes in source code during software development. It is designed for coordinating work among programmers, but it can be used to track changes in any set of files.

We will be using Git in your projects. You should also signup for a Github account for use in this course.

Never for any reason publish your project for CS1320 as a public repo in Github (or any other way that is accessible in the web). Such behavior will be considered as a severe code violation!

Recap

To recap, make sure you do the following: