Sunday, November 29, 2009 9:19 PM,

A student writes:



	 Dr. Patt,
	 
	 I was running through my Nim program to make sure it matched the 
	 example given and I noticed that my program prints the initial game 
	 board a line below (essentially empty space) the top of the LC3 
	 console display, otherwise it looks perfect. Will this be a problem?
	 
	 Thanks,
	 <<name withheld to protect the student who is almost done>>
 


Would that it wouldn't be a problem, but with 400+ students, we can not take 
the time to look at every program individually to check on things that humans 
can see but computers are less good at, AND still get the programs graded 
before Christmas.  So we run a grading script that will compare your result 
with what we expect.

Unfortunately, your one line off will be enough to throw off everything that 
should match, and you will be unhappy with the grade you get.  So, you will 
bring it to my (or a TA's) attention and then we will special case your 
program, and you will be fine (minus a few points, maybe).

It sounds like the fix is a simple one.  If it were me, I would just fix it 
and avoid the unnecessary hassle.

Sorry to have to do this, but grading more than 400 students is not without 
challenges, especially if you want your work graded in any kind of responsible 
turn around time.  Already, the turn around time is longer than I like, but it 
can't be helped.  I don't want to make the situation worse, and special casing 
just takes too much time.

Yale Patt