CS559-2006 | Main / ComputingPolicy

This class has been assigned to the "Storm" laboratory in B240 Computer Sciences. 559 students have priority on these machines, so if the lab is full of CS302 students feel free to ask them to another lab.

You are free to work on other machines (such as your home computer or laptop) subject to the following caveats:

Your code must build and run on the Storm machines. As far as we are concerned, if it doesn't compile and run on a Storm, it doesn't run.
Working in the lab can be a good collaborative experience, and we encourage this kind of collaboration (see below).

Your programs must be written in C++ (since C is a proper subset of C++, that's OK too). For some thoughts on C++, see the C++ hints page.

The compiler provided by the CSL for the storm labs is Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003. This is not the most recent version of the compiler. If you want to work on your home machine or laptop, our department wide license allows students in classes to get copies. Contact Mohamed for details.

Note: that if you choose to develop your software using another compiler, you still need to be able to compile your code in the storm labs. We cannot provide any help to you if you choose to use other tools.

People are going to (and in fact have) asked:
Yes, we really need you to do your projects so they compile and run on the Storm machines.
Yes, this means that you need to work with an older version of the compiler.

If you want to work on another machine (like your home machine or laptop) it is your responsibility to make sure your program also runs on the Storm machines. If your machine is running Windows, we can provide you a copy of VS .NET 2003.

If you want to develop your code in a different compiler/development environment (such as Visual Studio 2005), it is your responsibility to "port" your code to the Storm machines (e.g. get it to compile and run under VS .NET 2003).

Please see the FAQ as well.