CPSC 110 Setup

This page provides instructions on how to set up your computer for the course. These instructions assume that you already have a Campus-Wide Login (CWL) account. Please do not change your CWL username while taking CPSC 110 as it will cause you to lose access to course resources. If you have any problems during the setup process, please ask a TA for help during your first lab!

Setting Up Your UBC Email Account

All students in the course must have a @student.ubc.ca email account. To sign up for your student email account, sign in to the CWL myAcccount page with your CWL username and password and click on Activate Student Email. If you do not set up your student email account, you will not receive credit for answering lecture participation questions and you will miss important communication from the course team.

Setting Up Your Computer Science Department Account

All students in this course must have a Computer Science Department account. To set up your CS Department account, log in to https://www.cs.ubc.ca/getacct with your CWL username and password. After logging in, make sure that "linuxAccess" and "windowsAccess" are listed next to "Account roles." If they aren't, email help@cs.ubc.ca and ask them to activate your account.

Setting Up Piazza

Piazza is an online discussion forum and, aside from scheduled office hours, it is how you will get help from course team. You will use Piazza to ask questions and the course team and/or other students will use Piazza to answer them. The course team will also make important announcements on Piazza. So, Piazza is your lifeline in the course and you should check it on a daily basis. You can sign up for this term's Piazza discussion forum at https://piazza.com/ubc.ca/winterterm12024/cpsc110.

Setting Up edX Edge

Your "textbook" for the course including lectures, labs, problem sets, reference material, videos and other resources is on edX Edge. You can enroll in this term's edX Edge course at https://learning.edge.edx.org/course/course-v1:UBC+CPSC110+SPD/home.

Installing DrRacket

The programming tool we use in CPSC 110 is called DrRacket. You can download the specific version of DrRacket used in the course from https://download.racket-lang.org/. Install the version of "Racket" (not "Minimal Racket") appropriately depending on whether you are using a Mac, Windows, or Linux computer. If you have never installed software on your own computer before, please ask a TA for help during your first lab.

Configuring DrRacket

Once you start the newly installed DrRacket on your computer, you will need to adjust some of the settings.

Language Settings

Once DrRacket has started, go to the lower left corner of the window and select Choose Language. Under Teaching Languages, select Beginning Student. Under Output Syntax, select the true false empty bubble next to Constant Style. Then press OK.
Style Rules

One of the rules that will be enforced throughout the term is that every line in the files you submit must be less than 80 characters. To make this less of a pain, DrRacket has a built-in feature for detecting when a line goes over 80 characters. To enable it:

  1. Open DrRacket, go to the Edit (Windows) or DrRacket (Mac) menu, and then select Preferences.
  2. Select the Editing tab and then select the General Editing sub-tab.
  3. Check the Maximum character width guide box and change the number beside it to 80.
  4. Check the Show line numbers box.
SPD Handin

You will need to install the SPD Handin plugin that will allow you to submit all your work in the course. To install the plugin:

  1. Open DrRacket, go to the File menu, and then select Install .plt File.
  2. Select the Web tab and enter this url: https://cs110.students.cs.ubc.ca/spd.plt
  3. Once the file has been installed (this should take ~1 minute), restart DrRacket.
  4. There should now be a new SPD Handin button in the top right corner of the window (you many need to resize the DrRacket window in order to see it). Test the plugin by following the steps below:
    • Download the test file and open it in DrRacket.
    • Change the ??? in the file to your CWL username. Then press the SPD Handin button and enter your CWL username and password. If you get an error message, try again until you get a "handin successful" message. Please note that you need to use your CWL username to replace the ??? and in the username field, not YourCWLUsername@students.cs.ubc.ca. You should manually type your CWL username and password into the text boxes, as copy and pasting text from another program (such as a password manager) can add extra whitespace to your credentials, making them incorrect.
    • Now, visit https://cs110.students.cs.ubc.ca/handback/12345678 (replace 12345678 with your student number) and enter your CWL username and password to access the directory of your submitted files and autograder reports. Check the "setup-test/" folder to find the submission and autograder report for the test file you just submitted.

Note: If you are planning to take the CPSC 110 Challenge Exam, please follow the instructions on the CPSC 110 Info page.You will not be able to use SPD Handin or recieve feedback from the autograder until you pay the exam fee and complete the registration survey.