Sun, 6 Nov 2011, 21:25

Enclosed is an exerpt from email one of the students in the class sent
to one of my TAs.

> Are we allowed share test data for programs in 306? Especially for this new
> problem, since inputs are so big, can we make sample inputs and share it
> with our friends, as long as we don’t discuss any errors that result in our
> program?****
> 
> <<name withheld to protect the student who came up with a *reason*>>

I thought we dealt with this question some time ago.  Perhaps that was 
before the student came up with such a compelling reason: "inputs are so big."

So, once again: Mostly anybody can write a program that works on some 
input data.  Writing a program that has been properly tested on sample 
inputs so one knows that it is robust, and will do the job on weird inputs,
that is what separates the good from the mediocre.  Part of every 
programming assignment you ever do in school, and part of every program
you write on the job, whether you are doing it as a programmer for hire
or whether you are doing it as an engineer, trying to get a handle on some
engineering problem you need to solve - Writing test cases is an important
part of the job.

So, yes, I want each student to develop his/her own test cases, AND test
your program on the Simulator to be sure the program works BEFORE you submit
it.

Programming Lab 3 is up.  Good luck getting it done.

See you in class tomorrow.

Yale Patt