General Assignment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• I don’t know where to start

  • The assignment may feel overwhelming

  • Start by reading the assignment in its entirety

  • Consider how the problem can be broken down

• I don’t know how to do X

  • This is typical and sometimes intentional as independent wording is critically important

  • Go to google.ca and type in X

  • This is not to dismiss your question — it’s how experienced programmers figure out how to do X

• How long should this assignment take?

  • This will depend heavily on experience levels

  • At this stage, expect the assignments to take multiple hours

  • In other words, do not get discouraged if you are on hour 6 and you’ve yet to finish

  • Remember, you would not expect to write a high quality essay in a single one hour sitting

• I think I did everything correctly, but it’s still not working

  • This is typical

  • Sometimes bugs are simple and easy to find, and others are sneaky

  • Take your time with debugging and tracking down the problem

  • Consider probing values to see what the values of your signals are at different points of your design

  • If you are still stuck after an hour or so of trying to get the broken part working, come to office hours

• Should I be making any significant changes to the provided files?

  • Unless instructed otherwise, no

  • Often the provided designs are made in such a way for a specific reason

• What do the provided files do?

  • Trying to figure out their functionality may be part of the assignment

  • Learning to look at unfamiliar designs is a critically important skill to learn

• Some of the designs in the provided files looks like magic

  • This is normal, even with experienced programmers

  • It would be unusual if one were to look at a non-trivial design and immediately know what it is doing

  • At this stage, you may need to do a bit of digging to make sense of everything

  • This is an important skill to develop

• Is it OK to solve the problems in a way you did not describe, since I believe my solution is better

  • It may be the case that you truly found a better way to solve the problem, but follow the provided instructions

  • Sometimes constraints are provided to you to emphasize a specific skill you are to learn and develop

  • Additionally, if you do not follow the instructions, it may break the automated testing of your designs

• The files the design is supposed to read are not opening properly/Digital cannot find the files

  • This one isn’t uncommon; your files may be in the wrong location on your computer

  • The files should be in the same directory as the digital file

• Can I work with a friend?

  • No

• If the deadline is 11:55pm and I submit it shortly after that, will it still get marked?

  • No

  • It would be unfair to not be consistent and follow the outline set at the start of the semester

  • To hedge against a late submission, aim to submit the assignment well before the deadline

• I accidentally submitted the wrong file — will you accept the correct file even though it’s late?

  • No

  • Unfortunately this is a common cheating strategy students take in order to submit their assignments late

  • Although you may have truly made this mistake, because dishonesty is so rampant, I cannot accept these submissions

• Will I really get a 0 if the submission is done incorrectly?

  • Yes

  • Unfortunately, like submitting the wrong file, this is a common cheating strategy

• I had technical difficulties when trying to submit, therefore it was late — will you accept the submission now?

  • No

  • Like the others, this is another common cheating strategy

  • Because this is commonly used for cheating, we can’t accept the submission

  • To hedge against this, aim to submit your assignment well before the deadline