Assignments

Assignments will be posted here as they are released

Assignment	Release Date	Due date
Homework 1	Wed. June 25	Wed. July 2, 11:59pm
Homework 2	Wed. July 2	Wed. July 9, 11:59pm
Homework 3	Wed. July 9	Wed. July 16, 11:59pm
Homework 4	Wed. July 16	Wed. July 23, 11:59pm
Homework 5	Wed. July 23	Sat. August 2, 11:59pm
Homework 6	Wed. July 30	Fri. August 8, 11:59pm
Homework 7	Fri. August 8	Fri. August 15, 11:59pm

Typesetting

You are not required to typeset your homework solutions; however, it is an easy way to improve the legibility of your documents. Many Allen School students learned to typeset in this course. We have a few suggestions for typesetting.

Option 1: LaTeX (through overleaf)

Tl;dr: Use LaTeX if you are strongly considering graduate school or anticipate taking many optional math-heavy courses (theory courses, or courses in the math department), and so want to learn to use the full LaTeX language.

LaTeX is the standard tool for typesetting mathematical materials. While it takes some time to learn, it will likely pay for itself in the long run. You can even use LaTeX in places like Ed and Facebook Messenger!

These resources may be helpful for you to get started with LaTeX, with thanks to Adam Blank:

A homework template that you can use. Here is a preview of the rendered result.
A How to LaTeX tutorial, including specific information on how to use the template.

Overleaf is an online editor that spares you from having to install LaTeX locally. Overleaf has some documentation, but you might want to read this how-to-overleaf document first.

LaTeX is the tool used by CS researchers to write papers, and by mathematicians and computer scientists to typeset mathematics, but (especially with overleaf) compiling can take a few seconds, and if you make a mistake, the error message you get may be difficult to interpret (much like error messages you get for compilation errors in Java).

The learning curve for complicated layouts (e.g., tables and images) can be quite frustrating

Writing LaTeX feels like writing code---you type things, and then eventually compile (and hope you didn't make a mistake and need to debug). While this gives you very significant power to make documents look very nice, it also means a perfect document can be slow to produce.

Option 2: Parchmynt

Tl;dr: Use Parchmynt if you want to write LaTeX with the convenience of Word or Google Docs.

Parchmynt is a LaTeX editor that lets users write a document in the same manner as Word or Google Docs but with embedded rectangles that use LaTeX syntax for individual formulas and tables, making the homework writing experience much faster and easier. It is written by UW CSE alumns specifically for UW CSE classes. To get started, check out the Parchmynt website, read the Parchmynt documentation page, and watch the 3 minute instructional video.

Option 3: Notion

Tl;dr: Use Notion if you aren't worried about learning LaTeX fully and want to get something that looks fine as fast as possible

Notion has an equation mode which allows you to insert mathematical text into a word document. You can then export your Notion page as a pdf for your final homework submission.

Because it's in Notion, formatting text and creating tables or other complicated objects is usually familiar, and much easier than in the other options we've listed here.

Notion uses a library called KaTeX to display math equations, which contains a superset of the LaTeX commands. So you will be using LaTeX commands to typeset math equations, but unlike a pure LaTeX editor, most of the text formatting and spacing will be taken of for you. Using Notion is a great stepping stone to learning full LaTeX.

Formatting

We get many questions about formatting -- we aren't as strict about formatting as your high school classes were (or your English classes likely are), but we do have some requirements to make grading easier for the TAs:

Have every numbered problem start on its own page (so TAs can easily find where your answers start)
We don't care if you restate the question or not, but do list the number and letter
list your collaborators somewhere on the pdf that we can find (we don't have a specific requirement on where -- the first or last page are common choices)
When you upload to gradescope, make sure you select pages and that the pages are right-side-up
Putting your name on your submitted pdf is not required (Gradescope automatically associates your name to your submission). We prefer you don't put your own name on your submission (as it reduces the chances of unconscious bias for the graders), but it is not forbidden.

Guidelines

Symbolic Proofs (using equivalence rules or boolean algebra)

Symbolic proofs are part of the “training wheels phase” of proof writing. Follow these rules when you write your first symbolic proofs:

Apply only one rule per step, and label each step with the name of the rule you applied.
Respect order of operations. Operations are applied in precedence order, going from left to right across an expression. Be careful that you aren’t violating “implied” parentheses.
Make sure you are applying the rule exactly as stated in the handout. The handout rules apply to compound propositions, as long as order of operations allow their application.
The associative law, commutative law, or double negation law may be applied multiple times in a single step as long as you specify that it was applied repeatedly (e.g., “associative law twice”). For these proofs, do not combine them with other laws.

Homework in General

We evaluate your work using these guiding principles:

Legibility. You may lose points for solutions that are not legible. We cannot award points for solutions that we cannot easily read. Please consider typesetting!
Clarity. Remember to be mathematically formal and jot down your thoughts and assumptions. A proof is seldom strictly right or wrong; instead, it is only as convincing as the extent your human reader is convinced.
Style. This can be subjective, but it mostly boils down to organizing your work to make it easy to follow. Make sure you set up consistent notations beforehand, communicate information concisely (unlike this), and give your work a good proofread from start to finish.

Late Days

The shortened version of our late day policy is this: you have six late days to use during the quarter, which allow you to turn in an assignment up to 24 hours late without penalty. You cannot use more than three late days on a given homework assignment, which means no assignment can be submitted more than 72 hours after its original due date.

Please read the syllabus for all of the details on our late day policy.

Regrades and Resubmissions

You can submit a regrade request on individual problems after we release feedback. Regrades will be open for a week. We will not debate which ESN grade you received for deductions that were graded properly. Those are entirely at the discretion of the course staff.

After homework feedback is released, there will be a three-day resubmission period in which you can resubmit up to two problems from that assignment for an improved grade. Before resubmitting your homework, make sure to fully read and understand the feedback that was left on your initial submission to learn from your previous mistakes or misunderstandings.

There are two steps you must do to resubmit a homework assignment:

Submit your revised homework to a resubmission Gradescope assignment.
Complete the assignment's resubmission Google form that's posted on the course Ed board.

In the Google form, you will indicate which problems you would like to resubmit. Both steps above must be completed by the indicated resubmission deadline for your revised work to be graded.