Part 1

From the class list, I can tell that I already know most of you! Asking for a generic introduction seems a little silly. Let's try this: create a document (text file is fine) that you'll submit via Moodle, and tell me:

  1. If you could have a database containing any data in the universe, what would that data be, and why?
  2. Have you chosen your own partner for the pair programming assignments, or would you like me to choose one for you? If you have chosen your own partner, who is it? If you have a strong preference for working alone instead, please let me know; but I heavily encourage people to work together. There will be a considerable number of non-team based assignments as well, so you'll have a chance to work on your own regardless.

Part 2

We'll be using Piazza, which is a new site for managing student questions and answers within a course. We used Piazza in CS 251 (Programming Languages) last term, and student feedback was extremely positive. If you've got a question about an assignment or content in the class, send it to the course Piazza site; it has a really cool wiki-like system for allowing students (and me) to answer questions. I'm hoping it will be a lot of fun!

You'll need to enroll for the Piazza site. To do so, follow this link. Once you get to the course site, you'll see a question I've posed, for which I'd like you to contribute towards the answer.

Part 3

For some assignments later this term, we'll be using the open-source database system PostgreSQL (generally spoken out loud as "postgres."). Over break, you should have received a password for PostgreSQL by email from Mike Tie. See him immediately if you don't have such a password. Then make sure that your password actually works: you won't need it for the first few assignments, but let's all just solve those pesky login problems now.

PostgreSQL is installed on the department machine named lime. You can connect to lime via a terminal window from any department machine by typing ssh lime. (If you're connecting remotely via ssh from outside the building, you may have to connect to skittles.mathcs.carleton.edu first, then hop to lime from there.

After you've gotten into lime, type psql to start up the SQL interface to PostgreSQL. You should be prompted for a password: enter the password you received from Mike Tie. If it doesn't work, you'll get a password authentication error: visit Mike Tie for help. If it does work, you'll see a welcome message. Celebrate, then logout of psql and then lime by pressing ctrl-d twice.