Signing up

Follow these steps to setup an account on Autolab (unless you already have one in which case you'll use your existing account):

1. Go to this page and click on the Sign in with MyUB link . A new account will automatically be created for you.
2. By default, AutoLab will use your official UB first and last name. If you have a different preferred name, please let us know ASAP.
3. We will have leader boards for all the programming assignments. For anonymity, all students are identified by their chosen nicknames. So please make sure you pick an appropriate one (you can change your nickname at any point of time).
4. After you have done the above steps, you wait.

What happens next

Here are the steps that we need to take at our end:

1. We will upload a list of UB emails of students registered in the course (students cannot register themselves in a course). After that, you can just login into AutoLab using MyUB and you should see the CSE 331 course.
2. If you successfully completed your syllabus quiz, you will be added to the Y section. Otherwise you will be added to the N section.
3. Once you have successfully completed your syllabus quiz, you should be moved to the Y section: if this does not happen within two days of you completing the syllabus quiz, you should send us a reminder.
4. We will only release the grades for section Y.

In the steady state

Here are the various things to keep in mind once you are successfully added to the course on Autolab:

1. Once you log in to the system (after creating your account), you will see all the courses for which you have been registered. CSE 331 should appear with the description CSE331: Algorithms and Complexity (s20).
2. Once you go to the course web page for CSE 331, you will see a list of pending homeworks. To begin with you should one box for Homework 0 and one link each for Question 1 part (a), another for Question 1 part(b) and another for Question 3. (You will need to click on each Question and submit your solution on the corresponding page.) As you move along in the semester, you will also see completed assignments/homeworks.
3. For each homework, there will be five submissions/questions for each homework.
4. The interface is reasonably intuitive but make sure you explore and make yourself comfortable with the interface- you will be spending quality time with it this semester!
5. For the autograded question, to see the feedback you will need to click on any of your scores.

Autolab Walkthrough

Version of programming languages on Autolab

Java

openjdk version "10.0.2" 2018-07-17

OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 10.0.2+13-Ubuntu-1ubuntu0.18.04.1)

OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 10.0.2+13-Ubuntu-1ubuntu0.18.04.1, mixed mode)

            

Python

Python 3.6.5

C++

g++ (Ubuntu 7.3.0-16ubuntu3) 7.3.0

If you plan to use C++

Our recommendation

Some comments on the instructions in Jaric's setup

Below are some comments that are hopefully helpful:

• He is not kidding about the time it takes for the initial deployment. Make sure you have a good hour or two dedicated for this. (It's mostly idle time waiting for things to happen, so you can safely multiplex the deployment with other work.)
• A clarification where the files in the /vagrant directory. In the VM, the /vagrant directory will have exactly the same contents as that in the directory where you clone the git repo.

If you plan to use Java

Click here for the Instructions

Dealing with Errors

• Unexpected token error: This usually happens when your code exceeds the global 180 second time limit for all testcases. Look for Autodriver: Job timed out after 180 seconds in the feedback. If you don't see this as part of the feedback please contact the course staff.
• UnicodeDecodeError: This is most likely because you have a non-ASCII character (or more) in your code. First double check that you submitted a source file and not a binary. If the error persists, run this Python script on your Solution file by executing python3 validate_ascii.py <filename>. This will print the line numbers with non-ASCII characters in your code, which you should then remove.

Description of Thresholds

Your solution times out if it crosses a certain threshold as noted in the Autolab feedback. The way it works is as follows: we run our code and multiply our time with the corresponding threshold factor for the input to get the final threshold. Thus your solution will be within the threshold if it is slower relative to the optimal solution by at most the corresponding factor. For example, a threshold factor of 40 for input 1 means your code can be atmost 40 times slower than our optimal solution. These threshold factors tend to be used for pretty much all the programming questions, though sometimes, we end up changing them depending on the problem etc.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How often can I submit my answer for any question on Autolab? + -
  You can submit as many times as you want before the deadline. Autolab will take your latest score for Q3, and we'll grade your latest submission for Q1 and Q2.
• How can I look at the feedback I receive on Autolab? + -
  For question 1, you can click on any of the scores for a submission (usually available within a few minutes). For question 2, the grades and feedback will be released manually and you'll be notified by a Piazza post. Once the grades are released, you'll be able to open your submitted file and look at the grader's feedback.
• Why can't I see my printouts in the Autolab feedback? + -
  Print statements are disabled on Autolab for security reasons. However, You can print and run your code locally before submitting to Autolab.
• How can I tell if my code is timing out on Autolab? + -
  Autolab feedback will let you know if your code exceeds a threshold time for a testcase. However, if your code exceeds the global 180 second time limit (for all testcases), then the feedback maybe cut off. In that case, it is recommended that you submit your code to run on fewer testcases to figure out the bottleneck.
• What do the textfields MaxInputs, Sources, and Collaborators mean? + -
  MaxInputs is only relevant to the third (programming) question, where you can specify the number of testcases you want the Grader to test your code on (for partial credit). This is especially useful if your code times out if you run it on all 10 inputs. Sources and Collaborators applies to all assignments and their use is outlined on the Homework Policy page.

Java Specific

• How do I import my project to Eclipse? + -
  Select File > Open Projects from File System... then select the directory you wish to open.
• How do I run my project with arguments in Eclipse? + -
  Right click the Class you wish to run (in 331's case it will be Driver) and select Run As > Run Configurations and the Run Configurations window will open. Make sure that in the left column of the window the desired class is selected under Java Applications. Select the Arguments tab, then write any arguments in the Program Arguments box you would like to include, then click Apply (arguments should be separated by spaces).