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--- faq [2013/10/17 16:56] – jxu
+++ faq [2018/04/03 15:09] (current) – jxu
@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 ====== General ======
-====== FAQ about Assignment 2 and 3======
+====== FAQ about Assignments ======
 **Question 1**: We are planning to add a certain additional functionality X to our program for the Assignment. Is adding the additional functionality X allowed?
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 There is nothing wrong with the pthread library on RED.
-The best and easiest way to do the assignment, is to follow the advice
+The best and easiest way to do the assignment, is to do the following:
-in the assignment 2 description document:
-   "F. Hints
 . You may start by trying to read and understand the program
       "alarm_mutex.c" in pages 52-58 of the book "Programming with POSIX
@@ Line 54: / Line 52: @@
 Start with the program "alarm_mutex.c"; each time make just a few changes to make it closer to satisfying the requirements of assignment 2; each time after making just a few changes, try to compile it and run it and make sure that the new version of your code is at least compilable and is at least executable. Always save several previous compilable and executable versions of your code so that you can revert back to a previous compilable and executable version of your code if you experience difficulty compiling and executing the most recent version of your code and/or find it difficult to determine what is possibly wrong with the most recent version of your code.
+**Question 4**: For Assignment 2, are we allowed to make modifications to the main() procedure and the alarm_thread function?
-**Question 4**: For Assignment 3, can I include the errors.h file that was used in Assignment 2?
+Answer to Question 4:
-Answer to Question 4: Yes.
+You are allowed to modify the main() procedure and the alarm_thread in any way that meets the assignment requirements.
-**Question 5**: For Assignment 3, can I use an approach similar to the approach suggested in the answer to Question 3 above?
+**Question 5**: We are start writing the code for assignment 2. One issue we found is the
+code you give us has the problem when user input as following:
-Answer to Question 4:
+alarm> 10 hello
+alarm> 5 world
+alarm> (10) hello
+(5) world
+The message "world" will not be sent back before hello although the time is
+set before "hello". In the book, there is another version of alarm which
+used condition mechanism could solve this problem. Should we implement
+assignment 2 base on that code or just leave this problem and still use the
+code you gave us?
+Answer to Question 5:
+What do you mean by "Should we implement assignment 2 base on that code"?
+Assignment 2 never asked you to write assignment 2 "based on" ANY code.
+The sample code was only provided for the purpose of illustrating some of the concepts discussed in the book related to POSIX Threads.
+No one has ever said that the sample code should be used or can be used to satisfy the requirements of assignment 2.
+**Question 6**: Some members of my assignment group are doing less work / making less
+effort / contributing less. Is this a valid reason for not handing in the assignment before the due date?
+Answer to Question 6:
+Unfortunately a claim that some members of an assignment group
+are doing less work / making less
+effort / contributing less than some other members of the assignment
+group, is NOT a valid reason for not handing in
+an assignment on or before the assignment due date.
-Yes. You should follow the advice given in the "F. Hints" section in the Assignment 3 description document. Once you have studied and understood the programs “pxsem/prodcons3.c”, and  “pxsem/prodcons4.c”, and have learned how to compile and execute these programs by following the instructions in the "README" file, you can use the programs “pxsem/prodcons3.c”, and  “pxsem/prodcons4.c”, as a template to write your own program for  Assignment 3.
+If any member of any assignment group wishes to receive any credit
+for any assignment,
+that assignment group would need to hand in the assignment
+on or before the assignment due date.