Written by Julie Zelenski
Welcome to the assignment advice/FAQ page!
The assignment writeup is the place to go for the formalities (required specifications, due date, grading standards, logistics, and so on). This is the companion advice page where we offer hints and recommendations and answer common question that we expect may come up along the way. You may want to skim this page now to get a sense of what's covered and return here on an as-needed basis for further review when/if these issues arise.
Frequently asked questions about assign0
Why a scavenger hunt?
Apart from being a fun way to test your new Unix skills, there's something of a personal reason I wanted to introduce you to Unix specifically in a scavenger hunt format. The first time I was introduced to Unix at an internship years and years ago, it awakend a sense of wonder and anticipation, and reminded me of how I felt as a kid reading Encyclopedia Brown books or taking a flashlight up the mountains behind my Grandma's house looking for caves and abandoned mines. There's something about the austere command prompt just sitting there waiting for you to type something that let my imagination fill in the gaps with curiosity about what could be found beyond it. I hope the scavenger hunt helps you share in some of that appreciation of Unix, and perhaps will help lift you through what admittedly can be very real moments of frustration as you acclimate to this new environment. Bon Appetit!
What is the difference between commit and submit? Do I need to do both?
Both are essential. hg commit takes a current snapshot of your work and saves it to your history. You will make many commits during development, but this history is stored only in your local repo. As a final step, submit copies your complete work into the class repo and makes it available to the staff for grading. If you only commit, but never submit, we never see your work and will score the empty repo as a zero. Be sure you both commit AND submit!