Lab 9 (a.k.a. Proj2b checkpoint) is due Monday 3/20
Project 2B due Friday 3/24
Project 2B Party this Wednesday (3/22) 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge (Soda 430-438)
Project 2B Policies
We recently released updated policies on Project 2B partnership cases and extensions, please see this Ed post!
Project 2B Party
We will also be hosting a project party this week on Wednesday (3/22) from 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge for Project 2B. The session will begin with a presentation and then will turn into project-related OH help from staff. Come by if you find yourself needing some help on the project!
Spring Break
We will not be providing synchronous (OH, labs, etc.) or asynchronous (Ed) help over the duration of spring break given that the staff members are on break as well (3/25 - 4/2). If you plan to work on Project 2B over break, try to get to a point this week where you’ll be able complete the rest over break without staff help!
Midterm 2
We anticipate releasing scores sometime early this week. Keep an eye out for the grades released post!
Post Lab Walkthrough
The Post Lab Walkthrough is cancelled this week because last week’s lab involved no coding.
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 3/20 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Lab 9 (a.k.a. Proj2b checkpoint) is due Monday 3/20
Midterm 2
Midterm 2 is scheduled for next Thursday, 3/16 from 7-9 PM. Midterm 2 will be default in-person. Please see more information in the Midterm 2 Main Post. Midterm Room assignments have also been released! See #4409 for more details.
Extenuating Circumstances Reminders
If you have extenuating circumstances, we encourage you to fill out the form as soon as possible. You could also find the Extenuating Circumstances form at the top of the Extension tab on beacon. That way, we could work towards a reasonable schedule for catching up. In the event that you reach out weeks after the deadline, you may risk getting your request rejected entirely.
Homework 3
Homework 3 is due on Monday, March 13th at 11:59pm. It covers much of the content that is in scope for midterm 2.
Please do not resubmit the assignment after the deadline unless you have an extension beyond the 13th. Doing so will cause your submission to be overridden, and staff has no way of seeing submission histories for this assignment.
Note that for homework 3, since we will release solutions before the midterm, you will not be allowed to apply for an extension on the assignment. With that being said, you will have immediate feedback (once you submit, you will see an explanation if your answer is correct), and unlimited submissions until the deadline. We will approve extensions much more sparingly and under extremely limited circumstances (either email cs61b@berkeley.edu or fill out the extenuating circumstances form. For students with DSP accommodations, we can only guarantee an extended deadline until March 14th.
We have been getting a lot of questions regarding how instant feedback works for the hw3 gradescope! If you do not see any feedback for a given question, that means your answer is wrong. Give the question another try, and when you get it correct, you’ll see the green checkmark with the correct box.
Project 2B and Partnerships
Project 2B: NGordnet (Wordnet) has been released! For details about the project, please see the release post. The Project 2B Partnership Preferences form closed at 11:59pm tonight; we will be matching everyone up and creating your group GitHub repos tomorrow (Monday 3/13).
Post Lab Walkthrough: Lab 08
This week’s post lab walkthrough will be Friday (3/17) 2-3PM at Soda 273 covering last week’s lab on HashMaps! If you want a deeper look into the topic, come check it out!
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 3/13 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Lab 9
Lab 9 will be a checkpoint lab to help you get started on Project 2B, and will be due Monday 3/20. Labs on Thursday 3/16 from 3-5 and 5-7 will be canceled due to the midterm!
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Homework 3 due Monday 3/13 [EDIT 1:26 AM: The deadline has been shifted to Monday, 3/13 to allow solutions to be released in a timely manner before the midterm]
Midterm 2 is on Thursday 3/16
Project 2A Party this Wednesday (3/8) 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge (Soda 430-438)
Midterm 2 Exam Review Sessions on Thursday (3/9) 7-9PM and Friday (3/10) 1-3PM in the Soda Lab rooms (2nd floor)
Post Lab Walkthrough this Friday (3/10) 12-1PM at Soda 277 (Updated 3/9)
Project 2 Partnership Details
We just wanted to remind everyone that Project 2A is not a partner-based project! You should be submitting your Project 2A code individually, as you would with any other project in this class. On the other hand, Project 2B will be a partner project; we’ll give you more details about this when Project 2B is released.
Homework 3
Homework 3 will be released on Monday, March 6th at 11:59pm and is due on Monday, March 13th at 11:59pm. It covers much of the content that is in scope for midterm 2.
Note that for homework 3, since we will release solutions before the midterm, you will not be allowed to apply an extension on the assignment. With that being said, you will have immediate feedback (once you submit, you will see an explanation if your answer is correct), and unlimited submissions until the deadline. We will approve extensions much more sparingly and under extremely limited circumstances. For students with DSP accommodations, we can only guarantee an extended deadline until March 14th at 11:59 PM.
As you’re testing your implementations, you might find it helpful to compare your outputs against our staff solution’s outputs. See this Ed post for instructions!
Project 2A Party
We will also be hosting a project party this week on Wednesday (3/8) from 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge for Project 2A. The session will begin with a presentation and then will turn into project-related OH help from staff. Come by if you find yourself needing some help on the project!
Midterm 2
Midterm 2 is scheduled for next Thursday, 3/16 from 7-9 PM. Midterm 2 will be default in-person. Please see more information in the Midterm 2 Main Post.
Midterm 2 Exam Review Session
Midterm 2 Exam Review Session is happening this week in the 2nd floor Soda Labs! Sessions will be held Thursday (3/9) 7-9PM and Friday (3/10) 1-3PM. Thursday’s session will cover asymptotics, hashing, disjoint sets, and ADTs. Friday’s session will cover BSTs, balanced trees, and heaps.
Video walkthroughs for both sessions will be released the following Monday!
Post Lab Walkthrough: Lab 07
This week’s post lab walkthrough will be Thursday (3/9) 7-8PM (location TBD - we’ll update it on the website’s sections calendar) covering last week’s lab on BSTMap! If you want a deeper look into the topic, come check it out!
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 3/6 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
🫧🫧 Heyo 61bubbles! 🫧🫧 (sorry, a blue circle was the closest I could get to a bubble)
(EDIT: found some bubbles :^) Below are your week 7 announcements :)
Homework Party this Wednesday (3/1) 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge (Soda 430-438)
Post Lab Walkthrough this Thursday (3/2) 7-8PM in Soda 273
Homework 2: Percolation
Homework 2: Percolation, has been released and is due Wednesday (3/1) at 11:59pm. Take a look here for more information! Also, tomorrow morning we will be releasing two videos that contain hints/tips for how to complete the homework. We’ll blast out an announcement on Ed tomorrow with more details; keep an eye out!
Homework 2 Party
We will also be hosting a homework party this week on Wednesday (3/1) from 3-5PM at Wozniak Lounge for Percolation. This party will be for homework-related OH help. Come by if you find yourself needing some help on the homework!
This week’s Post Lab Walkthrough will be turned into a lab06 demo for those who had extensions and could not participate last week. This will be held on Thursday (3/2) in Soda 273 from 7-8pm. If you submitted the lab06 extension form, please try your best to make it.
Update to Misconduct Policy
To clarify our misconduct policy, we’ve removed the bullet point under “Permitted with Extreme Caution” that previously stated: “Looking at someone else’s project code to understand a particular idea or part of a project. This is strongly discouraged due to the danger of plagiarism, but not absolutely forbidden. We are very serious about the “By You Alone” rule!”
Important note: our threshold for what constitutes overcollaboration has not changed; rather, the above rule has led to more students crossing the threshold than we’re comfortable with, so the new policy leaves no room for interpretation.
As a refresher on our misconduct policy, your code should ultimately be written by you and you should not possess or view solution code before making your final submission. If you are unsure whether some action constitutes misconduct, feel free to reach out to staff on Ed or the cs61b@berkeley.edu email!
Velocity Limiting Extensions
We’ve received a few questions about this so we want to address it - being velocity limited is a valid reason for an extension request within 5 days (i.e. we will accept extension requests within 5 days of the original deadline if you ran out of tokens). However, if you are velocity limited, we will not grant additional time or tokens past the 5 day mark.
Student Support Meetings
If you’re looking for advice on general success in the course or more information on course resources, we’d like to plug our student support meetings! You can book a 20-minute appointment with us here. These meetings are not designed for debugging/assignment related help, but we can help you figure out the right resources and ways to utilize them within the meetings.
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 2/27 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Hi 61Bings! Hope everyone’s enjoying their long weekend - here’s a couple of announcements for this week:
Another Reminder on Respectful Communication
Unfortunately, it’s come to our attention that there have been some incidents of microaggression and other negative interactions between students in the class, specifically against underrepresented minorities and women. We’d like to take a moment to recognize the importance of respecting personal and professional boundaries (this includes your peers as well as staff members), especially given the diversity of backgrounds that are present in our 61B community. Please be aware of the specific language you’re using with your peers - even unintentional words can still cause harm. Thanks to those of you who submitted an incident report to bring this to our attention (a link is at the bottom of this week’s announcements).
Monday OH and Discussion Sections Canceled this Week
Due to President’s day, 61B will not have office hours or discussion sections this Monday (2/20). These changes are reflected on the course website’s calendar.
New Lateness Policy in Effect
You’ve made it! As noted in the course syllabus, “After week 5, the course content builds on itself in a less time-critical manner, so starting in week 6, the thresholds for “short” and “long” extensions will be increased to 72 for short extensions and 96 hours for long extensions.” This will take effect starting with homework 2, lab 6, and project 2a (this means that proj1c can only be extended 24 hours for a short extension and up to 72 hours for a long extension). As a reminder, certain assignments as laid out on the course website may not be extended.
Midterm 1 Regrades Close Monday
Midterm 1 grades were released last week and regrade requests will close Monday (2/20) at 11:59PM! Details on regrade requests can be found in the grade release post.
Lab 6: Project 1 Peer Review + Mandatory Attendance
Lab 6 (Project 1 Peer Review) is MANDATORY this week and is due Friday 2/24. You may go to any lab. If you cannot make it to any lab, please fill out the exemption form linked on the spec.
Do note that you may NOT make any further 1B submissions to the autograder after attending a lab this week. If you have not made your final submission yet, please do so before you attend lab this week! Attempts violating this rule will be marked as academic dishonesty.
Project 1C Released + Extended Deadline!
Project 1C: Deque Enhancements has now been released! The original deadline has been extended and it is now due Wednesday, February 22nd at 11:59PM. Find more information in the release post here.
Project 1C Party this Wednesday
We will be hosting a Project 1C Party this Wednesday, 2/22 from 3-5pm in the Wozniak Lounge (Soda 430-438). The session will begin with a presentation that will include some tips about implementing 1C, and then will turn into project-related OH help from staff. Come by if you find yourself needing some help on the project!
If you believe you need specific debugging help that involves showing us your code, there will be a category in each assignment labeled “Gitbugs (Private)”. Please see the Ed Gitbug policies for how to make an effective Gitbug. The Gitbug template must be completely and thoroughly filled out, or else we will not be approving the post!
Homework 2
Homework 2 will be released on Tuesday and due Wednesday 3/1 at 11:59PM. Stay tuned for more details in the release post!
Post Lab Walkthrough: Lab 05
Post lab walkthroughs are back this week Thursday 7-8PM in Soda 273! If you want a deeper look into last week’s lab on Git and debugging, come check it out!
Tutor Review Session
Tutor Review Session will be happening this Friday 2/24 from 1-3PM in the Soda labs (2nd floor) on Asymptotics and Disjoint sets! Expect an Ed post soon.
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Tuesday, 2/21 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Jokes aside, let’s move into the announcements for this week!
Don’t Discuss Midterm 1
Please don’t discuss the exam until we’ve fully opened up EdStem. We have a couple alternate exams happening early this week. We plan on releasing exam grades early this week.
Office Hours Queue - Public Tickets
As you’re getting started with Project 1B/1C in OH this week, try using public tickets to ask any conceptual questions you may have! If you see a public ticket on the queue with a similar question, you can join the ticket and receive help as a group.
When helping public tickets, course staff won’t be allowed to look at your specific code. However, the larger the group, the longer a staff member can help you for.
Important Reminder on Respecting Staff Boundaries
As a reminder, please keep interactions with staff members professional and only via official channels.
Monday 3-4pm discussions
Eddie’s Monday 3-4pm discussion in Soda 405 is now canceled for the remainder of the semester.
Yaofu’s Monday 3-4pm discussion will be in Soda 606 for this week only! To get to Soda 606, take the elevator and the room is right across the hallway. This change has been reflected on the sections calendar on the website as well.
Lab 5: Advanced Git and Debugging
Due to the extended project 1 deadline, Labs 5 and 6 have been switched. This means that Lab 5 is now Advanced Git and Debugging and Lab 6 is now Project 1 Peer Review.
For this reason, Lab 5 no longer requires mandatory attendance and Lab 6 will require mandatory attendance. Lab 5 will be due this Friday (2/17) at 11:59pm.
Project 1B
Project 1B: ArrayDeque was released last week! It is due Wednesday, February 15th at 11:59PM. Find more information in the release post here.
Like Project 1A, we will be velocity limiting autograder submissions. You will only be allowed to make 4 submissions within any 24-hour window to the main assignment’s autograder. In the last 2 hours before the deadline (starting at 10pm on 2/15), you will receive 4 tokens every 15 minutes. Additionally, as a guiding rule, please don’t request more tokens from staff.
We’ve also released the “[UNGRADED] Project 1B: ArrayDeque Test Coverage” assignment without velocity-limiting so you can check your test coverage. Additionally, we recommend using the style checker plugin to check your code style before submitting!
Gitbugs
If you believe you need specific debugging help that involves showing us your code, there will be a category in each assignment labeled “Gitbugs (Private)”. Please see the Ed Gitbug policies for how to make an effective Gitbug. The Gitbug template must be completely and thoroughly filled out, or else we will not be approving the post!
In order to make a Gitbug, please ensure that you have the following settings selected. Note that you must select “Question” for the Gitbug template to show up.
Style Checker Plugin
Please check that your style checker plugin has been updated for this semester. Instructions for how to update your plugin can be found here. To run the style check on a file, right click the file and select “Check Style”.
New Textbook!
We are transitioning from the old 61B textbook to a new comprehensive resource! This textbook will replace the old textbook, lecture guides, and checkin exercises.
You can find the textbook here on the homepage of the website:
Pacing Points
After feedback about lecture pacing points, we’ve updated the policy to allow you to watch lectures within 2 days. For example, you can receive pacing points for Monday’s lecture if you watch it by Wednesday night (at 11:59pm). This will still be self reported through the weekly survey.
No Post-Lab Walkthrough
The post-lab walkthrough has been canceled this week because there was no lab last week. See you next week!
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 2/13 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Hello 61Braniacs 🤓!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here are some announcements to look out for this week!
Edit 2/6 11:41 PM:
We are now opening up student support slots for those seeking general advice in the course, exam study tips, or best project workflow! You can find more information here.
Midterm 1
As a reminder, Midterm 1 is scheduled for Thursday, February 9th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, and will be default in-person. View this post for more information. Please make sure to fill out the midterm 1 form if you would like to request a remote exam, would like to request to take the exam at an alternate time, are a student with accommodations, or have any other issues.
Pacing Points
The policy for pacing points has been updated. As announced by Professor Hug earlier in the week, you must watch the lecture on the same day to be eligible for pacing points. The surveys have been modified to reflect this, although this won’t take effect until today.
Post Lab Walkthrough: Lab 03
This week’s post-lab walkthrough will this Tuesday 2/7 (7 - 8pm) in Soda 405 and cover Lab 03. Please come by if you want to review the lab content from last week! Note the changed date due to the midterm.
Project 1B Released!
Project 1: ArrayDeque has now been released! It is due Wednesday, February 15th at 11:59PM. Find more information in the release post here.
Midterm: Canceled Labs
Due to the midterm, all Thursday labs from 5-7 PM will be canceled for the week, and all Thursday 3-5 PM labs except Vidya’s and Max’s (Online) will be canceled. Additionally, there is no lab deliverable this week due to the midterm. The calendar has been updated to reflect this.
Lab 04
Due to the midterm and the project, there is no lab deliverable for this week. Lab sections will still be held as usual (unless stated otherwise above) for assistance with the project and midterm preparation.
Weekly Survey Reminder
As a reminder, the weekly survey has been released and is due Monday, 2/6 at 11:59 PM. You can access the survey here as well as on the website hyperlinked in blue under “survey”.
Gitbugs
If you believe you need specific debugging help that involves showing us your code, there will be a category in each assignment labeled “Gitbugs (Private)”. This is where you can ask a private question with your code. Please see the Ed Gitbug policies for some suggestions on how to make an effective Gitbug.
In order to make a Gitbug, please ensure that you have the following settings selected. Note that you must select “Question” for the Gitbug template to show up.
Study Group Matching
Are you looking for a study group in the class? Please fill out the CS61B Group Matching Form! The first round of matches will be made after Monday, 2/6 11:59 PM and the form will be processed on a rolling basis thereafter.
Discussion Section Changes
Alexander’s Monday 4 PM section in Soda 310 is now canceled
Elana is now solo-teaching the Tuesday 2 PM section in Dwinelle 243
Circle’s Tuesday 4 PM section in Soda 320 is now an exam-level section
Hailey’s Tuesday 5 PM section in Soda 320 is now canceled
Sam’s exam level section Tuesday 6 PM in Soda 405 is now canceled
Lab Section Changes
Shirley will now be co-teaching the Wednesday 3-5 PM lab with Omar in Soda 271
Jedi will now be solo-teaching the Wednesday 3-5 PM lab in Soda 275
Sherry is now solo-teaching the Wednesday 7-9 PM lab in Soda 275
Jennifer is now solo-teaching the Thursday 9-11 AM lab in Soda 275
Noah is now solo-teaching the Thursday 1-3 PM lab in Soda 273
Dominic is now solo-teaching the Thursday 3-5 PM lab in Soda 271
Meshan is now co-teaching the Friday 9 -11 AM lab with Alexander in Soda 273
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Hello 61Beans!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here are some announcements to look out for this week!
NEW OH QUEUE!!
Starting Wednesday, 2/1, we will be moving to a new OH queue (let’s goooo) made by our very own Meshan Khosla (slay). This new queue will support group tickets & other very cool features. More information can be found here.
Midterm 1
As a reminder, Midterm 1 is scheduled for Thursday, February 9th from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, and will be default in-person. View this post for more information. Please make sure to fill out the midterm 1 form if you would like to request a remote exam, would like to request to take the exam at an alternate time, are a student with accommodations, or have any other issues.
Exam Review Session
Midterm 1 Exam Review Session happening this Friday 2/3, 1-3pm in the 2nd floor Soda Labs! This session led by our lovely tutors will have conceptual review for in-scope topics followed by some exam-level and past exam problems. See you there!
Discussion Section Changes
The following changes have been made to discussion sections - all of this is reflected on the course calendar:
Royce’s discussion section Tuesday 4-5 PM in Hildebrand B51 is canceled. Royce is now co-teaching with Eric Che in Wheeler 224
Austin’s discussion section Tuesday 5-6 PM in Wheeler 30 is canceled, and Austin is now solo-teaching the section in Soda 405 instead of Shirley
Allen is now co-teaching bridge Wednesday 10-12 PM with Noah instead of Laksith
Max’s online discussion is moved from 5-6 PM on Tuesday to 1-2 PM
Crystal & Jedi’s bridge section on Mondays will now be in Soda 405 at the same time
Sherry’s exam level section is moving to Soda 320 at the same time
Emily’s discussion section Tuesday 10-11 AM in Morgan 109 is canceled, and Emily is now solo-teaching the section in Soda 320 instead of Jennifer
Kenneth’s discussion section Tuesday 9-10 AM is now canceled
Hailey is now solo-teaching the Tuesday 5-6 PM discussion
Project 0
Project 0 is due Monday 1/30 at 11:59PM! Please also note the recent changes to the project: EvilChooser is no longer graded for points (more details here).
Project 1A: LinkedListDeque Released
Project 1A has been released! It is due Monday 2/6 at 11:59PM! Find more information in the release post here.
Homework 1
Homework 1 was released last week. It is a Gradescope assignment and due Monday 1/30 at 11:59PM! Find more information in the release post here.
Over the past week, we’ve noticed some troubling sentiments being expressed by students questioning the purpose of Homework 1. As stated in the homework itself, “this assignment was created for an important reason - underrepresented groups continue to face discrimination actively throughout computing, including when taking CS 61B.” We’d like to express again the importance of being cognizant of these issues; our goal is to make CS61B and the Berkeley CS department a safe space for all students, and we strongly believe that this assignment will aid in that mission.
Lab 03: Timing
Lab 03 will be released Monday 1/30 and will cover timing tests and the second part of last week’s debugging assignment.
Project 1A Party
Similar to the Project 0 Party last week, we will be hosting a Project 1A Party this Wednesday, 2/1 from 3-5pm in the Wozniak Lounge (Soda 430-438). The session will begin with a presentation that will include some tips about implementing 1A, and then will turn into project-related OH help from staff. Come by if you find yourself needing some help on the project!
Post Lab Walkthrough: Lab 02
This week’s post-lab walkthrough will this Thursday 2/2 (7 - 8pm) in Soda 273 and cover Lab 02. Please come by if you want a deeper look at debugging or just want to review the lab content from last week!
Monday Lecture Recording
The lecture recording for Monday will be the recording of the live lecture and will be posted by 3 PM.
Setup/IntelliJ Issues
If you have issues with setup or IntelliJ, we wanted to remind everyone that we have compiled common issues in Git WTFs and IntelliJ WTFs. We’ll continue to be helping on Ed and OH, too!
Ed Etiquette Reminder
Sometimes, you might feel that the staff response to your Ed post wasn’t sufficient. When this is the case, please post a follow-up on your thread and unresolve the thread by unchecking the green “Resolved” button. If you do not do this, the likelihood that a staff member will see your follow-up is very low. Additionally, please remember to utilize megathreads for conceptual questions - staff will redirect you there in the future.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
To those who celebrate, happy lunar new years fellow 61belugas 🐳 🐋 ! Below are the weekly announcements :3
Discussions
Discussion sections begin this week. All discussion sections can be found on the bottom of the course homepage here. In discussion, TAs will review the material and help students collaborate to solve the problems on the worksheet. You can find more information in the syllabus. There are no signups, and you can attend any discussion section. You are not required to attend a discussion section, although attending a section will count towards your pacing points.
For the first two weeks, we ask that you be respectful of other students in the class, and do not attend multiple discussion sections in the same week. Note that the discussion schedule differs from the schedule in the University Course Catalog.
There is one (1) planned online discussion, scheduled for 5 - 6pm on Tuesday with Max.
We have three (3) different types of discussions this semester. You can find descriptions of each on the week 1 announcements!
Project 0 Released + Debugging Support
Project 0: The Awakening of Azathoth has now been released! It is due Friday, January 27th at 11:59PM. Find more information in the release post here.
Some important notes about debugging support for project 0 via Ed:
TLDR: Come into synchronous OH for debugging support for this project - it’ll be a faster process than asynchronous support.
You may make a private post under the category “Project 0 - Debugging Help”. We want to give you the best advice we can, and in order to do so, we’ll need the context of your issue so we can get up to speed as fast as possible! As a result, please fill out the template entirely and thoroughly - staff may reject private posts which do not provide sufficient context. We believe synchronous OH will be a more productive way of getting help, so staff will only begin to review posts under this category after 6 hours. Please do not make multiple private posts at once - staff will focus on the most recently created private post for each student.
Lab 2: A Debugging Extravaganza
Lab 02: Debugging will be released Monday 1/23 and due Friday 1/27! Please try to complete this assignment before Project 0 as it will teach you how to use the debugger. The debugger will significantly reduce the difficulty of bug squashing for the project.
Homework 0B Released
Homework 0B has been released! It is due Monday, January 23rd at 11:59PM. Find more information in the release post here.
Project 0 Party
We will be holding a Project 0 Party this Wednesday from 3-5pm in the Wozniak Lounge. If you find yourself needing help with the project, feel free to come by! We will start the session by giving a project presentation, and then we will open up to questions/OH-style help. More details about the project party will be posted on Ed soon, so stay tuned!
Post Lab Walkthrough
Occasionally students complete the weekly lab assignment but still feel that there are flaws in their understanding, or that even though their code passes the tests, it is still inefficient and clunky. For this reason 61B will be hosting Post-Lab Review Sections starting this week. These will be weekly one hour sections in Soda 273 on Thursdays (7 - 8pm) where course staff will live code a solution to the previous week’s lab as well as describe their approach so that you can see how a more experienced Java programmer might approach the assignments.
This coming week, the section will review the Git exercise from Lab 01, and expand on how Git works and can be used throughout CS61B. Please come by if you want a deeper look at Git or just want to review the lab content from last week!
These sections will happen in Soda 273.
Tutor Review Session Friday
The first tutor review session is happening this Friday 1-3pm in the Soda labs (2nd floor)!!! Tutor review sessions led by our 61brilliant tutors are meant to catch students up with what has been going on in the course with mini-lectures followed by worksheet & past-exam problems. This week we’re covering Java programming, arrays, and linked lists! Since these sessions have historically had a high turnout, students will be split among the three labs downstairs and will rotate between the rooms. Expect an announcement with more info in the coming days!
Lateness Policy & Pacing Points
We finalized the lateness policy & pacing points earlier last week - please take a moment to review the policies for this semester! If you’re experiencing extenuating circumstances, this new section may also be of use.
Taken from the lateness policy: “An important note on extensions: leading up to an assignment deadline, we usually provide increased support for that assignment (in the form of increased staffing). As a result, continuing to work on an assignment after the original deadline may lead to slower response times on Ed/longer wait times in OH, as staff will actively prioritize assignments whose deadlines have not passed.”
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
🎉 🎉 🎉 Heyo CS61🅱️esties <3 <3 <3 !!! We are so excited to have you on (61)board for the (61)best semester yet!
Enrollment
If you are currently waitlisted in the class and intend on enrolling, please stay on the waitlist! We will likely be able to expand the course to accommodate all waitlisted students. You should complete assignments as if you’re enrolled in the class to ensure that you don’t fall behind.
Lecture Info
Lectures are scheduled on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 1-2 PM in Li Ka Shing 245. The first lecture is this Wednesday (1/18) from 1-2PM, both virtually on zoom (link updated on 1/19 for Friday’s lecture) and in-person. However, the lecture hall does not have sufficient space for all students in the class - the lecture hall can only seat ~290 students. Please fill out this form to let us know how you plan on attending Wednesday’s lecture, so that we can plan accordingly.
Course Website
The course website is now live at https://sp23.datastructur.es/. The website is still under construction! Don’t trust details on pages that say they are under construction, or the assignment calendar past Week 2.
Ed Policies
We’re making these posts on Ed! Ed is a discussion forum similar to Piazza, which you may have used before. On Ed, you can ask questions that your fellow students and course staff can answer. If you haven’t used Ed before, it’s quite nice – we’ve written a guide for new users that introduces you to some of the features.
Since Ed is a resource shared by everyone, we do have some policies that we ask that you follow. Generally, ask the kind of questions that you would like to see on the forum. We have a few specifics on how you can do that in our Ed Policies on the course website.
The main policies that we’d like to highlight here are:
Categorize your questions appropriately. The information available in Ed is most useful if it’s labeled correctly for others looking through it.
Please show us that you’ve tried before asking for (conceptual | debugging) help. We care a lot about you learning and finishing the assignments, but also that you learn how to help yourself and ask good questions. The policies have some guidelines on how you can do this.
Don’t post your code publicly. If you believe you need specific debugging help that involves showing us your code, there will be a category in each assignment labeled “Gitbugs (Private)”. This is where you can ask a private question with your code. Gitbugs have not been released yet.
Discussion
Discussion sections begin next week. In discussion, TAs will review the material and help students collaborate to solve the problems on the worksheet. You can find more information in the syllabus. There are no signups, and you can attend any discussion section. You are not required to attend a discussion section.
For the first two weeks, we ask that you be respectful of other students in the class, and do not attend multiple discussion sections in the same week. The bottom of the homepage of the course website has been updated with the discussion schedule. Note that the discussion schedule differs from the schedule in the University Course Catalog. You won’t see any on the calendar for this week, so look at next week’s calendar if you want to plan ahead.
There is one (1) planned online discussion, scheduled for 4-5pm on Tuesday with Max. This section will not begin on 1/17, but will begin the following week (1/24).
We have three (3) different types of discussions this semester:
Bridge
Do you want more of an emphasis on the concepts before diving into the discussion worksheet? If so, our bridge discussion may be the right place for you! Some of our amazing TAs will lead a two-hour discussion section intentionally organized for students who are not as familiar with the material that week. It’s a great way to get a little more comfortable with the topics and receive more individualized attention during section. The material and difficulty covered during the bridge discussion section will be the same as the Practice discussion section, and we’ll have an extended mini-lecture to reinforce conceptual understanding.
Practice
This section is best for students who are caught up with lecture and are ready to tackle some medium-difficulty questions. Usually there are more questions on the worksheet than can be done in the allotted hour, so TAs can pick and choose which problems to work on during the section.
Exam-Level
Exam-level sections are more fast-paced sections that cover more difficult problems than practice discussions. The goal of these sections is to get comfortable with exam-level problems and problem-solving strategies. In general, there will be less focus on review/mini-lecture and more time spent on the problems. You can attend only an exam-level section, or both a practice/bridge section as well as an exam-level section, since we will cover different problems in the two section types.
Lab
Lab sections begin this week. In lab, TAs will introduce the assignment, review relevant material, and answer students’ questions. You can find more information in the syllabus. There are no signups, and you can attend any lab section. You are not required to attend a lab section. The lab schedule can be found at the bottom of the course website’s main page.
For the first two weeks, we ask that you be respectful of other students in the class, and do not attend multiple lab sections in the same week. You do not have to attend the same TA’s section for lab and discussion. The bottom of the homepage of the course website has been updated with the lab schedule. Note that the lab schedule differs from the schedule in the University Course Catalog.
There is one (1) planned online lab, from 3-5pm on Thursdays taught by Max. This lab will begin on 1/19.
The Lab 1 assignment itself is due Tuesday 1/24 at 11:59 PM PT. This lab contains setup instructions that are required to complete the rest of the course. Start early! Setup can take a long time and sometimes requires TAs to help figure out weird problems. Lab 2, when released, will be due on Friday 1/27 at 11:59 PM PT, so plan accordingly.
Homework 0: A Java Crash Course will be released this coming week! The homework consists of two parts:
Part A - exercises using basic Java syntax and language constructs. This part will be released on Tuesday, January 17th and be due on Friday, January 20th.
Part B - exercises using the most common data structures that we’ll see in CS 61B. This part will be released on Friday, January 20th and be due on Monday, January 23rd.
Separate Ed threads will be posted about these two assignments once they’re released, so keep an eye out!
Office Hours
Office hours begin this week on Wednesday. During office hours, you can receive individual help on assignments. The office hours schedule can be found at the bottom of the course website’s main page.
Outstanding Interactions and Incident Reports
If you had a memorable or great experience getting help from any staff member, AI, or another student and want to give them a shoutout, fill out the Outstanding Interactions form! (We’ve been sending these to whomever they mention and it gives all of us energy :D)
On the other hand, if you have had a negative interaction in the course, fill out the anonymous Incident Report Form.
Pre-Semester Survey
The Pre-Semester Survey is due Monday 1/23 at 11:59 PM PT. This survey is worth 128 points of extra credit. The first weekly survey will be released this weekend, and due Monday.
Surveys are worth a very small amount of credit in the course. We do not accept late survey responses, and you cannot apply for an extension on surveys.
Summary of Important Dates
Homework 0A: Released Tuesday 1/17, due Friday 1/20 at 11:59pm PT
Homework 0🅱️: Released Friday 1/20, due Monday 1/23 at 11:59pm PT
Project 0: Released Friday 1/20, due Friday 1/27 at 11:59pm PT
Pre-Semester Survey: Due Monday 1/23 at 11:59pm PT
Lab 1: Due Tuesday 1/24 at 11:59 PM PT
«
Soft Launch
»
Posted January 3, 2023 @ 00:00:00
This website is under construction! Everything subject to change. Exam dates and
times, and projects are all TBA.
If you have urgent questions about the course, please email
cs61b (at) berkeley.edu. You will get a faster response than
emailing Professor Hug.
We know that the links may be broken. If you want to get a head start on the content, you can check out the Fall 2022 course website.
Course policies and other administrative stuff coming soon!
Finals Week (May 08-12)
Final exam: Tuesday May 9th, 8-11 AM
Lab / Discussion Schedule
Each discussion section is now a bridge, practice, or exam level discussion
section. You can find more information about each section in the Week 2 Announcements on Ed.
Office Hour Schedule
Note: Office hours are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, feel free to come to lab with your questions.
