COMP3311 Notices

Notices

  • Exams and Assignments

    Posted by John Shepherd Thursday 01 December 2022, 02:29:44 PM, last modified Thursday 01 December 2022, 02:30:19 PM.

    For those panicking about failing the exam hurdle, it's applied after scaling. I think scaling up will be needed. Unless your exam was appallingly bad, you'll most likely pass the hurdle.

    I have run plagiarism checking on Assignment 2. People who weren't previously panicking might start to feel uncomfortable. I'll be sending out "Please explain" emails early next week. If you have anything you'd like to tell me now ...

  • Offshore Students and 3311 Afternoon Session

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 25 November 2022, 02:09:58 PM, last modified Friday 25 November 2022, 02:16:54 PM.

    The morning session has run a bit late. We'll be starting the afternoon session by 2.30 and will extend the end time of that session.

    At the start of the session, access the exam paper as https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs3311/22T3/exams/22T3/index.html rather than going via Webcms3

    And submit your work as you complete each question.

  • Accessing the exam

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 25 November 2022, 10:27:30 AM.

    Use the URL

    https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs3311/22T3/exams/22T3/index.html

    You need to supply zID and zPass

  • Starting/Finishing the Exam

    Posted by John Shepherd Thursday 24 November 2022, 10:43:18 PM.

    Webcms3 is going to get smashed with everyone logging in at the start of the exam.

    You can get started without going to Webcms3, by opening the URL:

    http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs3311/22T3/exams/22T3/index.html

    Get into Webcms3 once the initial flurry of logins has died down.

    Similarly, Give will get smashed if everyone tries to submit all of their answers at the last minute. Submit as you go, to avoid the end-of-exam rush. You can submit questions multiple times.

  • Final Exam

    Posted by John Shepherd Thursday 24 November 2022, 04:26:47 PM.

    The final exam is tomorrow (Friday 25 November). If this surprises you, you should be worried.

    For onshore students, exams are held in the CSE labs. You should have received an email telling you which lab you'll be sitting in.

    Morning Session : Arrive before 10am, entry 10:15am, exam start 10:30am, exam finish 1:30pm.

    Afternoon Session : Arrive by 1:20pm (for corraling), entry 1:55pm, exam start 2:10pm, exam finish 5:10pm

    Offshore students are taking the afternoon session, but don't need to arrive early for corraling.

    The exam paper will become available at the times labelled "entry" above.

    During the 15 mins at the start of the exam, unzip the exam-work.zip into the directory where you plan to work, get a PostgreSQL server running, and read the questions.

    You should be able to complete the exam entirely on the Lab workstation. Don't bring a laptop unless it is surgically attached to your arm.

    Do not bring pieces of paper to the exam; we want to be paperless. Leave your bags, phones, watches, etc. at the front of the lab; the invigilators will look after them.

    Some tips:

    • make sure you get a good night's sleep
    • leave home early to arrive in plenty of time
    • read the questions carefully
    • if you've spent 15 mins with no progress on a question
      • do a different question
      • come back to that question later
    • don't spend more than 30 mins on any one question
    • submit your answer as you complete each question

    Good luck!

  • Template for 22T3 Final Exam

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 22 November 2022, 10:25:24 AM.

    I've put up a template of the exam structure, and included the database info in there.

    The marks for each question are merely suggestive of the marks in the actual exam.

    Note that exam-work.zip and exam-paper.zip will not be available until the day of the exam (I think they're referenced in a few places).

    Next thing to do ... track down the solutions to the 20T3 and 21T3 exams.

  • Preliminary Database Dump

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 21 November 2022, 11:48:55 PM, last modified Thursday 24 November 2022, 03:13:44 PM.

    To assuage those crying for the database, I've put the data in 

    ~cs3311/web/22T3/exams/22T3/racing.dump

    The schema won't change for the final exam, and neither will the data.

    But I need to check that there's no seriously dud data, before posting the final version

    I assume that you know how to create/load a database from a dump by now.

  • For Offshore Students

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 21 November 2022, 12:25:28 PM.

    I've just posted some information on how your exam will run.

  • Laptops in the Exam

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 21 November 2022, 11:44:45 AM.

    It has been drawn to my attention that if we have too many laptops in the exam, the Wifi in the labs probably won't be able to cope. In which case, you'll have to use the lab workstations anyway.

    I'd prefer that most people use a lab workstation. All you need to do the exam is a web browser, and a couple of terminals, and the inevitable vscode window.

    Really, the only reason to bring a laptop is if you have such a wonderful PostgreSQL development environment set up there, that you can't live without it. If you've been doing your assignments on Vlab, a laptop gives you nothing extra.

    Having your notes "only on your laptop" isn't a good reason to bring a laptop either. You can easily transfer the notes to your CSE account before the exam.

    If, after considering all of the above, you insist on bringing your laptop, it's your responsibility to make sure it won't run out of battery part-way through the exam, and it's your problem if the Wifi can't cope.

  • Exam Info

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 20 November 2022, 11:03:44 PM.

    I've put up the database schema for the exam. I'll add the data once I've created it all.

    I've also put up information about what you can/cannot do in the exam.

    The solutions for the past exams will go up on Tuesday evening.

  • Help Sessions

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 16 November 2022, 03:04:16 PM, last modified Wednesday 16 November 2022, 04:41:19 PM.

    Ooops ... I forgot to remind people that there's a Help Session in Zoom from 3-5 TODAY

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/82961616899?pwd=QUJhRmkwRjQ...

    Also, another one next Tuesday (Nov 22) from 2-4 on the same Zoom link

    Update: Zoom shut down the session after 40 mins idle time. Since nobody's asking questions, session closed.

  • Final Lecture

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 15 November 2022, 11:55:39 AM.

    The last COMP3311 lecture is at 2pm on Zoom:

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/87124670738?pwd=SFU4UVdWaTcxSGFhbjREcERVN3RLUT09

    We'll review the course and discuss the exam.

  • Week 10

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 14 November 2022, 07:00:39 AM.

    The usual weekly preview is available. Things to note:

    1. please fill out the poll ASAP for your situation for the exam (Nov 25)
    2. take quiz 6 before Friday midnight
    3. please fill out the MyExperience course/teacher evaluations

  • Poll for your situation on November 25

    Posted by John Shepherd Saturday 12 November 2022, 12:15:46 PM.

    Could you let me know ASAP whether or how you would get to UNSW on Friday 25 November?

    Please fill out the Poll . Thank you.

  • Busy all day

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 11 November 2022, 07:44:52 AM, last modified Friday 11 November 2022, 07:52:26 AM.

    Note: I am busy all day and will not be available to answer questions about the assignment (after 9.30am)

    Hopefully, the tutors will respond to forum questions or email to cs3311@cse

  • Help Session Wed 9 November

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 08 November 2022, 09:43:13 PM.

    There's a Help Session from 11.30 - 1.30 on Wednesday (Nov 9) on Zoom

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/82961616899?pwd=QUJhRmkwRjQ...

    Password: 085271 (if needed)

    Primarily on the assignment.

    Hint: if you're having problems running scripts on vxdb, try the dos2unix command.

  • Ass2 Testing

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 01 November 2022, 10:35:35 AM.

    The assignment 2 testing stuff is now available on the Testing page.

    Hopefully, it is now all consistent with the spec and the Examples.

    If you unzip'd the testing.zip file before 10am Tuesday, you should unzip it again and re-run the check script.

  • Updates for Week 08

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 30 October 2022, 06:30:59 PM.

    Thanks to the early adopters (esp. Dylan and Ronan), I think the Assignment 2 spec is now complete/unambiguous and the examples are correct.

    I've also added a new Prac Exercise, this one for Python/Psycopg2.

  • Assignment 2

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 28 October 2022, 12:00:14 AM.

    The assignment spec is in a state where you can start working on it.

    I have put a new database dump (with slightly better origin info, and lots of extra PlaysRole data) in the file 

    /home/cs3311/web/22T3/assignments/ass2/files/ass2.dump

    This new database was used to generate the example outputs. If you have an older version of the database, replace it.

  • Assignment 2 Out Thursday

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 26 October 2022, 10:11:53 PM.

    The Assignment 2 spec will be released on Thursday evening. While developing the solutions, I discovered some incorrect and missing data , so I need to build the database again. This means a new ass2.dump which is 90% the same as the old ass2.dump , but has somewhat more sensible/complete data. Note: the schema is unchanged, and if you've already been playing with the database, the time has not been wasted; you'll have a better feel for how the data fits together.

  • Flex Week

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 17 October 2022, 11:09:29 AM.

    Reminder (as if you needed it): Week 6 is "Flexibility" Week, so there are no classes (i.e. no lectures, no tutes).

    If you didn't manage to "work out" SQL during Assignment 1, keep practising (e.g. Prac Exercises, try to finish off the assignment).

    For us (course staff), we get to spend this week marking Assignment 1, preparing Assignment 2 and writing some Python/psycopg2 prac exercises. We'll let you know when they're available.

  • Last Minute Assignment Q&A

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 14 October 2022, 12:59:35 PM.

    I won't be available after 2pm to answer assignment queries.

    If you send the query to cs3311@cse, one of the course admins might answer.

  • Help Session, Wed 12-2

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 12 October 2022, 09:46:08 AM.

    There's an online Help Session today (Wed 12 Oct) from 12-2 at

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/82961616899?pwd=QUJhRmkwRjQxVUhwUGFLV1BPalpCZz09

  • Live Lecture Today

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 11 October 2022, 07:56:43 AM.

    Fever gone + Negative RAT = Live Lecture, 2pm, Ritchie Theatre

  • Online Lecture Today

    Posted by John Shepherd Monday 10 October 2022, 08:13:31 AM.

    I woke up this morning with a fever. Haven't done a RAT yet, but I think I'll play it safe and not come to work today.

    This means no live lecture in Ritchie Theatre at 12. However, in a throwback to the bad old days of the pandemic, I'll do the lecture on Zoom:

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/82243595662?pwd=L3J4UXVTVWZlWWc1SUNMS091RmxlZz09

    And since I won't be attending the usual Monday afternoon meetings, I can run an assignment Help Session from 2.30 (time to recover from lecture) until 4.30, also on Zoom

    https://unsw.zoom.us/j/82961616899?pwd=QUJhRmkwRjQxVUhwUGFLV1BPalpCZz09

  • Help Sessions for Ass1

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 09 October 2022, 08:59:55 AM.

    People have been asking for Help Sessions for Assignment 1. I don't have any time to run such a session until Wednesday, and then only have time from 12-2.

    But I don't think that scheduled Help Sessions are so useful. You turn up with 20 other people, and sit there as we work through one person at a time. This is kind-of ok for things like installing PostgreSQL, since many people have the same problem and might learn from watching others solve things.

    We can't do that with assignments, since we need to look at things individually.

    Places to get help:

    • ask your tutor
    • send a message to the Webcms3 forum
    • send email to cs3311@cse.unsw.edu.au

    If you're sending email to cs3311, you can include code. Do not put code in forum posts.

    I'll see if the tutors have time to run Help Sessions and we'll publicise the times and URLs.

  • Quiz 3 Results and Census

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 07 October 2022, 08:00:18 AM.

    Since Sunday is Census day, I've had a request for the Quiz 3 results to be available before people decide whether to drop the course. So, Quiz 3 is still due at 11:59 on Friday, but no more submissions will be accepted after Sunday 12 noon.

    And a general reminder: if you want to drop courses, do it well before midnight on Sunday 9 October, you'll have to pay for the course

  • No Monday Lecture

    Posted by John Shepherd Saturday 01 October 2022, 03:04:29 PM.

    There's a public holiday on Monday, so no live lecture in Ritchie theatre. However, we can't afford to lose a lecture slot, so I'll make a video of the lecture I would have given. Look under Lecture Material on Monday.

  • Ass1 Testing Script

    Posted by John Shepherd Saturday 01 October 2022, 02:24:51 PM.

    The testing script for Assignment 1 ( check.sql ) is now available. You load it into your database once you have loaded your views from ass1.sql . The Testing page describes how to use it.

    Note that we will use this script as one part of the assignment auto-testing. The other part will be using the same schema with different data, and obviously a different check.sql .

  • Public Holiday next Monday

    Posted by John Shepherd Thursday 29 September 2022, 05:32:17 PM.

    Next Monday is, annoyingly, yet another public holiday. We can't run classes on a public holiday, so all of next Monday's tutes are cancelled. If you're in a Monday tute, feel free to attend another tute on Tuesday or Wednesday for week 4 only. Online tutes can easily handle more students, and you can find how to access them on the "Online Tutorial Links" page. For face-to-face tutes, you might want to ask the tutor first whether they'll have room in their class, and you can find their location on the Timetable page.

  • Barrel aging, LIMIT 1 and Coding Style

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 28 September 2022, 12:58:30 PM.

    At the risk of annoying the small number of people who've already submitted the assignment, I've been swayed by the arguments about the difference between "barrel...aged" and "aged in ... barrels" and decided that either order should be acceptable. For anyone who has already done Q6, it is a trivial change to add the other order. I've changed the spec and the Examples to reflect this.

    This changes the expected result in an interesting way. Previously, with the insistence on the "barrel...aged" order, there were two equally strong beers. Now there is only one "strongest" beer. This relates back to what I said about the the use of 

    ORDER BY ... LIMIT 1

    as a way of finding the largest/smallest/most/etc. It is not correct to use this strategy unless you are 100% sure (from some other information) that there is guaranteed to be only one answer tuple.

    Note that we said we would be testing your submissions on two databases: the one we gave you, and an unseen database which uses the same schema but has different data. I will make sure that the queries that ask for lagrest/etc have more than one result tuple, so anyone who uses LIMIT 1 will fail those tests.

    I forgot to include coding style in the spec, perhaps assuming that you would all write your code in a good style, based on your experience in previous courses. Nevertheless, as an incentive to keep it beautiful, I've included a style mark in the spec.

  • PostgreSQL Installation Help Session

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 28 September 2022, 12:05:06 PM.

    It seems that some people are still having difficulties installing PostgreSQL on d2.

    I'll run another help session on Thu 29 Sep from 2-5

    It'll be online at https://unsw.zoom.us/j/83874931783?pwd=THBScVdIcVY...

  • Final Exam for Off-Shore Students

    Posted by Kyu-Sang Kim 🫠 Tuesday 27 September 2022, 02:31:21 PM, last modified Tuesday 27 September 2022, 03:40:56 PM.

    All UNSW students were recently sent an email notice that stated the following:

    If your course has an in-person final exam, on-campus attendance is a mandatory requirement for this exam. If you cannot come to campus to attend an in-person exam during the T3 exam period, we recommend you drop that course before census on Sunday 9 October.

    This information only applies to centrally-run exams and DOES NOT apply to internally-run lab exams within CSE courses such as COMP3311.

    As such, all students who are off-shore (overseas) during the final exam period and are unable to reasonably get to Sydney for the exam will be given an online alternative exam as written in the course outline. You do not have to drop the course if this situation applies to you.

    EDIT: We have received emails from students in regard to those who are currently domestic (reside within Australia) and whether they will be offered an online alternative exam if they are overseas or interstate for the final exam period.

    At the current time of writing, all domestic (non-international) students are required to be at UNSW for the COMP3311 final exam.

    If there is a reason why being at UNSW for the final is not possible, you must apply for Special Considerations. An online alternative exam will only be granted for domestic students if Special Considerations is approved .

    You can apply for Special Considerations here: https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/special-considerat...

    This does not affect students with ELP and/or other considerations which have been granted.

    EDIT 2: Clarified that an application for special considerations is only necessary by domestic students (students currently within Australia for 22T3)

  • Week 3 Preview

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 25 September 2022, 08:10:58 PM.

    I've posted the Week 3 Preview video . Quiz 2 this week, Assignment 1 out now. In lectures, I'll talk about the assignment, SQL updates, SQL queries, and (maybe) PLpgSQL.

  • Assignment 1 Updates

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 25 September 2022, 03:16:22 PM, last modified Monday 26 September 2022, 07:35:54 AM.

    An issue with the counts in Q4 reminded me that we need to treat beers which are brewed by a collaboration of multiple brewers carefully. You need to make sure that they don't end up looking like two separate beers with the same id . I've posted a new output for Q4 in the Examples page, modified the description of Q12 in the spec, and posted a couple of notes in the Fixes/Updates page for this.

    Also fixed the deadline date: it was always Friday of Week 5, but I'd put 15 rather than 14.

    Also fixed wording of Q6. Was supposed to ask for the strongest barrel-aged beers.

    Also fixed the description of the output format for Q11.

  • Assignment 1

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 25 September 2022, 12:09:23 AM.

    Assignment 1 is now available.

    Let me know about typos, references to old servers, etc. asap, so I can fix them.

    I've tweaked the database a little, so if you collected a copy of the database before this notice was posted, you'll need to grab it again.

  • Assignment 1 Coming Soon

    Posted by John Shepherd Thursday 22 September 2022, 10:01:33 PM.

    It's taking longer to prepare the assignment than I was expecting ... it always seems to.

    I'll have it all done by Saturday afternoon.

    In the meantime, you can look at the database schema via

    https://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs3311/22T3/assignments/ass1/schema.php

    If you want to build the database now and play with it, run your PostgreSQL server and then 

    $ createdb ass1
$ psql ass1 -f ~cs3311/web/22T3/assignments/ass1/schema.sql
$ psql ass1 -f ~cs3311/web/22T3/assignments/ass1/data.sql

    which is all the more reason to have a working PostgreSQL server.

    The assignment requires you write some queries (expressed as views) and some PLpgSQL functions on this database. I'll talk about SQL queries, views and PLpgSQL functions in the week 3/4 lectures, but there are already content videos (under Slides and Videos) on these topics.

  • PostgreSQL Help Sessions

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 21 September 2022, 06:15:41 PM, last modified Thursday 22 September 2022, 10:07:14 AM.

    I'll run a PostgreSQL Help Session from 10-1 on Friday in K17-410.

    If you can't make it to that, I'll be on Zoom from1.30-3.30

    This is for people who are having problems installing PostgreSQL on d2 .

  • Online Tutorial Links

    Posted by Kyu-Sang Kim 🫠 Tuesday 20 September 2022, 07:30:13 PM.

    Links to each tutor's online tutorial is now available here or on the WebCMS side bar below the Timetable .

    Refer to the page as the single source of truth for online tutorial links until further notice.

  • Week 2 Info

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 18 September 2022, 10:11:55 PM.

    I've posted a preview video for week 2.

    Highlights: first tute, Quiz 1, Prac 03, imminent release of Ass1 spec.

  • Tuesday Week 1 Update

    Posted by John Shepherd Tuesday 13 September 2022, 11:34:35 PM.

    I've loaded the video and data files from today's lecture and linked them under "Lecture Material".

    I've fixed the problem that was preventing the tutorial exercises from loading.

    I've updated Prac Exercise 02 to use d2 rather than d (and other changes)

  • Week 1 Info

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 11 September 2022, 10:02:56 PM, last modified Sunday 11 September 2022, 10:03:06 PM.

    I've uploaded the Welcome, Overview and Week 1 Preview videos, all accessible via the Slides and Videos link in the sidebar.

  • Course Outline, Content, Tutes

    Posted by John Shepherd Friday 09 September 2022, 05:06:55 PM.

    I've added the Course Outline. Read it carefully.

    I've also added all the material under Slides and Videos and Tute Exercises.

    Let me know if I've messed up the visibility of any of that.

    The Prac Exercises need a little bit of tweaking, but will be up by Monday.

  • Tutorials start in week 2

    Posted by John Shepherd Wednesday 07 September 2022, 09:11:10 PM.

    I just noticed that the Timetable says that COMP3311 tutes run from Week 1.

    Not true. Tutes start in week 2.

  • Welcome to COMP3311 22T3!

    Posted by John Shepherd Sunday 04 September 2022, 09:01:15 PM, last modified Sunday 04 September 2022, 10:39:01 PM.

    John Shepherd will be lecturing COMP3311 in 22T3.

    Differences to previous offerings:

    • Lectures are face-to-face in the Ritchie theatre (and recorded)
    • Most tutorials are face-to-face; online tutes are available
    • Exams will be invigilated in the CSE Labs.
      We will arrange invigilation for offshore students.

    Tutorials start in Week 2.

    If you don't like the above, the course next runs in 23T1.

    More details to follow soon in the Course Outline.

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