Class - C Programming

Welcome 🤗! In the next ~4h we will cover:

Chat
Flowchart
Repository
E: Reflection

Let us use our fresh minds for learning instead of all the Logistics. We will right now only cover Breaks, the general goal, 📊 Live poll and Q&A right now. We will cover logistics gradually today and next weeks.

Before we begin with the class, we need two Feedback persons.

Chat¶

Learning goals

Use chat in study mode

I encourage you to use the chat – but in a way which supports your learning: You should do the thinking and the chat should guide you through the process. To achieve this, you can use the following instructions:

ChatGPT

Claude

Copilot

Chat.dk

Other LLMs

On the chat prompt write @study or @lær på dansk:

Now paste the exercise you need help with or your question. For example Claude replies as follows:

This looks like a course exercise, so rather than just handing you a finished flowchart, let’s build your ability to construct one — that’s what you’ll need on the exam too.

First, a quick check: have you drawn flowcharts before ...

If you would like to explore more about AI & education:

Prompts for learning by Northwestern University.
100 chats for college students by OpenAI.
Generation ChatGPT by Prompt Podcast.
Sneak peek

Husk kildeangivelsen ved brug af generativ AI i dine afleveringer og projekt.

Overtrædelse af ovenstående regler gælder som eksamenssnyd.

E: Chat in study mode¶

Flowchart¶

Learning goals

translate a process into a flowchart

Mission: Safe landing¶

You are an engineer and you want to build a system to land a space vehicle on the moon.

Problems:

limited fuel 🌡️
crash if high speed 💥

E: Describing a process¶

Flowchart can also be used for describing a process.

Flowchart shapes¶

Meanings of shapes

Name	Shape	Example
process
flowline
decision
input/output
terminal

Translating an example process¶

Demonstration

Ask your guest how many sugars they want in their coffee, then add that many spoonfuls of sugar.

Lazy 🦥:

Better, by breaking down the process into steps, which can be processed individually 🤓:

Best, using real data, e.g., numbers in variables to represent the problem 💪:

Drawing Tools¶

Visual app: draw.io. Use the symbols under General^[1]
Pen & paper ― it is ok if you take a photo and upload or use a tablet.
Declarative app: Mermaid. Select Flowchart from the sample diagrams.^[2]
- I use Mermaid for the diagrams you see here. If you are new to coding, it may be overwhelming.

E: Hello flowchart¶

Exercise 3 (Hello flowchart)

Draw flowcharts for the following processes. You may only use the allowed shapes for each process. Break a process into more basic steps, if it makes sense, e.g.:

toast a bread => take bread from the fridge, put the bread into the toaster, turn the toaster on.

The following shapes are always allowed:

Id	Process
1	Cook rice with a rice cooker.	❌	❌
2	Ask your guest how many minutes they want their egg boiled, then boil the egg for that long.	❌	✅
3	Count the wine bottles in the fridge. Subtract one — you’re keeping it to celebrate passing this course. Tell your friends how many bottles are left to drink.	❌	✅
4	You have the urge to go to the toilet. There is only a single toilet room nearby. If the single toilet room is occupied, use the toilet on the third floor instead. Otherwise, use the one nearby. Then return to class.	✅	✅
5	If the class is finished and you have a question, go to the instructor. Otherwise ask the chat.	✅	✅
6	As a plant enthusiast, you are nerdy about exact watering your plants. Input `pot_diameter` and `seen_light_level`. `seen_light_level` can be 1, 2, or 3. If the light level is 1, then water 5 times the pot diameter. For the other levels, use 8 and 12, respectively.
7	You are designing a controller for a lunar lander. If altitude is higher than 100, turn the thruster off, output `Circling the moon.`^[3] Otherwise (altitude ≤ 100) If the altitude is lower than or equal 0, turn off the thruster, output `Landed.` Otherwise, turn on the thruster, output `Landing.`	✅	✅
8	Ask your guests and note how many coffees are wanted (`n`). Brew the coffees one at a time until you’ve made that many. Serve them all together on a tray to the guest.	✅	✅
9	You are solving an important exercise. Solve it, then check whether the result looks correct. If it doesn’t, solve it again. Repeat until the result looks correct.	✅	✅
10	You want to count the number of lines in your text. Set `line_count` to 0. As long as there is a next line, read it and add 1 to `line_count`.	✅	✅

Keep your results, we will use them in one of the next exercises.

E: Hello flowchart quiz¶

Repository¶

Learning goals

Explain why we use repositories
Upload your work to a repository
Accept and submit an assignment using Classroom 50 and GitHub
Delete a file on GitHub
See autograder results

E: GitHub support¶

E: Why repositories?¶

Why do we use repositories?¶

Keeping a history of changes is helpful if we or someone else who also work in the project would like to understand changes in the project which is useful for collaboration. Keeping a history helps also to roll changes back if something does not work as intended.

Keeping projects in a repository is also helpful to collaborate and share code. You share your photos on a social image sharing platform like Instagram, and the programmers use a forge to share code and follow other software projects — for example GitHub has a feed, where you can get updates about your followed people or projects. We will use GitHub^[4].

Another important advantage: pushing your code to a forge will keep a backup of your project in the cloud.

I also keep my projects on repositories, including my lectures.

Last but not least, many companies ask applicants to include a forge link in their applications.

In this course you will submit your assignments for feedback mainly by submitting a repository.

E: First submission¶

Exercise 7 (First submission)

First: Accept the assignment and then follow the following steps.

(In case) You may have to login and authorize Classroom 50 app.
Click Accept Assignment:
Click Open repository:
Now we will upload the files.
Click +:
Click Upload files.
Every flowchart must be individually uploaded. Name them:
```
flowchart1.svg
flowchart2.svg
...
```
- If you dont have all flowcharts, upload the ones you have.
- If you did not use Draw.io, upload photos of your flowcharts as jpg.
- (Optional) Upload .drawio files if you want to keep them for future.
Drag and drop the files:
Click Commit changes.
🥳 Congratulations, you submitted your assignment!
Every time you make a change (commit), you will submit your assignment again. Your last submission takes precedence.

E: Autograde feedback¶

The assignments will have an autograde program which gives you and us feedback about your submission about e.g.,:

Did you submit all required files?
Did you answer correctly to the multiple choice questions?
Does your program output hello if hi is input? (when we start writing code)

E: Deleting a file on GitHub¶

E: Hello Classroom 50¶

Classroom 50 uses GitHub repositories for managing assignments. It gives you an overview of your assignments: deadlines, your submission status etc.

Classroom 50 gives a nicer overview compared to the GitHub.

E: Reflection¶

We will usually end the day with this activity.

🎊 Congratulations on the first day! 🎊

Footnotes¶

In draw.io, do not use the symbols under Flowchart because some of them do not follow the standard.
↩
After coding the diagram, you can export it as an SVG or PNG file, or paste its contents to an *.md file and upload it to GitHub. GitHub can render it.
↩
If you see this kind of formatting, then it is usually part of code, e.g., a variable name, an output message, etc.
↩
Other popular forges are GitLab, or Codeberg. GitHub is the most popular one and on which most of the open source projects in the world are organized. GitLab is popular among companies, because GitLab is open-source and can be installed in a private data center. Codeberg is organized by a European non-profit organization and is privacy-focused.
↩