July 19th, 2021
Q: Is the guest lecture during class today the one we will need for the Ethics questions?
A1: The ethics lecture on the handout refers to Katie’s lecture from last week :)
A2: I just updated the assignment handout to reflect this. Thanks again for asking!
A3: There is no guest lecture today. Sorry for the confusion on the assignment handout.
Q: Are there any penalties for handing in during the grace period?
A1: No. You can still receive full credit for your assignment submission. You only lose the 2% on time bonus.
Q: Do you know where we can find Katie’s lecture from last week? Is it on Canvas in one of the regular lectures?
A1: Here’s a link to the slides (on the class website under lec 14) and you can view the recording in the corresponding lecture recording (Lec 14). https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs106a-8/sum-lectures/14-Drawing/106a_Privacy_Encryption_Summer.pdf
Q: Should our homework 2 or 3 grades be in paperless yet? Because mine do not show up.
A1: Your assignment 1 and 2 grades should be released. Assignment 3 (sand) is still being graded (we are having IGs for this assignment). Please email your section leader if your grades aren’t out yet
Q: I do not see Akram's name on the list of section leaders what should i choose?
A1: Akram should be at the bottom of the list :)
Q: Is there a lalR session today?
A1: Yes! LaIR is open today from 5-7pm PT. The hours are M/W 5-7pm PT and Tu/Th 7-9pm PT.
Q: When do we schedule our next IG? For the sand assignment?
A1: Your section leader will reach out to you in the next few days :)
Q: What if for homework 2 we still don’t have a grade?
A1: Can you email your section leader and cc Head TA Tara?
Q: I'm getting emails constantly from somewhere called Lattice Science Publication to my stanford email, is that a known scam?
A1: mmmm I’m not sure. I wouldn’t open it and you can report it as spam as well
Q: what homework assignments are supposed to be graded so far because I only have the very 1st assignment graded
A1: Can you email your SL and cc Tara about this?
Q: will we learn some basic backend programming with python in this class?
A1: That’s not really covered in this class.
Q: At the end of the evaluation there was a link for assignment 4 starter code, but the link didn’t work for me.
A1: Yeah. In the past we’ve required students to complete the MQE before starting their assignment but we aren’t doing that this quarter. You can download the assn 4 starter code on the assignment page https://web.stanford.edu/class/cs106a-8/sum-assn/homework-4-crypto.html
Q: Follow up: I don’t see the starter code on the assignment page.
A1: Look in the first line under Crypto Introduction. It says “Download the crypto.zip and open the ‘crypto’ folder in Pycharm to get started”
Q: Will this be on the next quiz or homework?
A1: No not really. This is mostly a for your own knowledge lecture. We can follow up with Juliette at the end to confirm :)
Q: Where did Juliette learn all of this? It’s super cool :)
A1: Yes! This stuff is so cool! This information is sprinkled thorughout Stanford’s CS core classes (like this class and 106B, 107, 110 etc). But let’s ask her at the end where she specifically learned this :)
Q: Is memory the same as ram?
A1: ram is a special type of memory. RAM is different from your storage :)
A2: More info: https://www.lehigh.edu/~inimr/computer-basics-tutorial/ramvsdiskspacehtm.htm#:~:text=Both%20RAM%20and%20hard%20drive,stands%20for%20Random%20Access%20Memory.&text=When%20your%20computer%20is%20turned,is%20running%20in%20RAM%20somewhere.
Q: If I cannot make my section this week is that ok? I can attend another one but will I lose points for section attendance if I don’t attend my session?
A1: Great question! If you cannot attend your section time, you can still get attendance credit. To receive credit, email your section leader to let them know you’ll be absent, attend another section time this week, let that section leader that you’re a visitor, and after the section, let your section leader know whose section you attended.
Q: Do you have to specify where your program is run? Like if we are doing image processing will it automatically run on the GPU?
A1: Excellent question! I believe it is automatically determined for you. But added to the list of follow ups :)
Q: So when a machine is turned off and the RAM is wiped, that data goes to Persistent storage?
A1: Yes!
Q: It seems like the old python files we havent used in a while take up a lot of our persistent memory storage. Do you reccomend we delete those after this course to save space or are they good to save for future reference?
A1: Personally, I saved mine but I have a lot of space on my computer. You can always access your homework submissions on paperless if you do opt to delete the files from your computer :)
Q: Everytime a new iOS update comes up is that a new operating Systerm?
A1: I could be wrong but how I think it works is that the updates with decimals like 14.2 is a minor update and new integer numbers like 15 are a larger update of the operating system
Q: Hi! I hope you are good today! :) How do silicon transistors run lines of code? And how do more silicon transistors run lines of codes faster?
A1: Hi Mikahil! I am doing very well today and hope you are too :) I do not know the answer to this. I’ve added it to the list of follow ups for Juliette at the end :)
Q: Hi! Not really related with this class: can we check our grade on continuingstudies.stanford.edu?
A1: Hello! There isn’t a way to see your overall course grade for this class before the end of the quarter. If you want to discuss how you’re doing in the class, Juliette/Tara’s office hours are a great place to swing by. At the end of the quarter, I believe your grades will be posted on Axess (at least, that’s where I access my grades)
Q: I have a question about appending a value to a list because one of the problems in hw confuses me on this part: how can I use s.find() to grab a value and then use s.append() to append it to a list because when I use them they give me an error saying it can only be used for a num or string but not a stored value. Thanks!
A1: Great question! s.find(ch) is a string function. It takes in a character and finds it’s index in the string. If you want to find the index of a elem in a list, you can use lst.index(elem). If you want to add a character to the end of a string, you use s += ch. If you want to add an elem to the end of a list, you use lst.append(elem). Please feel free to drop by LaIR or follow up with more questions! Strings and lists are important concepts :)
Q: Did the inventors of pycharm code it so that on mac it uses “python3” and “py” on windows? Or is it like that because of the way that the OS interprets the app?
A1: Really great question! I’m not sure. I think python3/py are the universal Python launchers but I’ve added this to the list of follow ups at the end of lecture
Q: The link to the code after the survey isn't working, it says it's outdated. Should I email someone individually about that or will the information be posted eventually?
A1: Thanks for letting us know. In the past, we’ve required students to complete the MQE before starting assignment 4. But we are not doing that this quarter. You can access the starter code for assignment 4 on the class website on the assignment 4 handout :)
Q: does using Pycharm use more CPU than something else like a texteditor?
A1: I would assume so because Pycharm is an IDE, a heavy program with more features than a texteditor
Q: What is the prize for the encryption?
A1: Prize winners get an email :)
Q: will your computer just freeze if you use too much memory
A1: Yes, but you usually get a warning before hand :)
Q: What's the difference between CPU threads and cores?
A1: Core is something that runs code. Threads are a single process. You can split some program into multiple threads (learn about CS110)
Q: Does Juliette know how Zoom works?
A1: Streams (like your video and share screen) are being sent over servers. But no not really
Q: Should we still turn in our extra decryption problems? I finished mine a bit ago but we covered it today so it seems weird to email the answer in now.
A1: Yes turn it in :)
Q: what is memory management
A1: What should go in RAM vs storage
Q: Do we get a final letter grade for the course? Where do we check our grades in the class?
A1: Yes, you will get a final letter grade for the course. You cannot see your overall percentage in the class at any given time. You can see your assignment bucket grades on paperless and your quiz number grade on gradescope. If you want to check in with how you’re doing, you can stop by Juliette/Tara’s office hours
Q: What are some ways to reduce RAM usage?
A1: Lots of ways! Happy to discuss at office hours
Q: Why do some websites require more CPU than others?
A1: Some websties have more features than others. A website with ads and chat are going to use more CPU than a website that simply displays an article or something simple
Q: will making your cpu memory explode damage your computer?
A1: Usually your computer will give you a warning before this.
Q: Why were old computers so big?
A1: I think this is beacuse hardware has improved so much that we can now have smaller computers.
Q: for grades, how do the checks and pluses translate to letter grads?
A1: The point of the buckets is to shift the discussion away from letter grades. We want to focus on improvement and feedback. A general guidance is a check plus generally translates to some form of an A and a check translates to some form of a B.
Q: is the decryption problem we had to do graded?
A1: No this was optional
Q: whats the difference between solid disks and hard disks? and why solid disks are faster? Thanks :)
A1: I am not sure but happy to figure this out with you at office hours
Q: I probobly have over 60 tabs open on my computer… is that safe? It’s a bad habit I know :(
A1: I do this literally all the time. You should see how many tabs I have open. It’s okay :)
Q: why is python often used in backend programming
A1: C++/C is used more often for backend programming. Python is so much easier to use to when it can be used, it is generally prefered.
Q: is flask a backend python thing?
A1: From Google it seems like a way to use Python as a backend language. Very cool :)