Getting started (M269)
+If you’re an M269 student, follow these steps to start writing essays within a few minutes.
+Install software (optional)
+While you can write essays with your current M269 software, +we recommend installing two more packages to help you +test, check the style, and measure the run-time of code.
+-
+
- Activate your M269 environment as usual:
-
+
- Open a PowerShell (Windows) or terminal (Linux / macOS), and enter
m269-23j
.
+ - The prompt should now be
(m269-23j) ...
and you should be in your M269 folder.
+
+ - Open a PowerShell (Windows) or terminal (Linux / macOS), and enter
-
+
To install the software, enter
+pip install algoesup ruff allowed
in the PowerShell / terminal.++Note
+The command installs a version of
+allowed
that can be used from +within the notebook, to check the code cell by cell. +Do not delete theallowed.py
andm269.json
files in your M269 folder. +You will continue to need them to check your TMAs before submission.
+ -
+
The software needs a configuration file named
+pyproject.toml
. + Right-click on this link + and select ‘Download / Save file as…’ to save the file to your M269 folder. + Do not change its name.
+
Copy template
+We have created templates to serve as starting points for your essay.
+-
+
- Go to our example essays page. +
- Choose a template and right-click on the corresponding download button. +
- Select ‘Download / Save file as…’ and save the template to your M269 folder,
+ with a filename that includes your name (e.g.
essay-Michael.ipynb
) + or indicates the topic (e.g.balanced-brackets.ipynb
). + If you prefer, you can rename the file later, when you settled on a topic.
+
Write the essay
+With the essay template in your M269 folder, you can work on it in the same way +you do with the book’s chapters and your TMAs.
+-
+
- Open a PowerShell or terminal. +
- Enter
m269-23j
to activate your M269 environment and go to your M269 folder.
+ - Enter
nb
to open the Jupyter dashboard, from which you can open the essay.
+
Share the essay
+Once you have a draft you want others to give feedback on, +make a post in the VLE forum corresponding to the topic of your essay, +and attach your notebook file.
+For example, if your essay is about ordered or unordered collections, +post it in the Weeks 1-10 forum, but if it also uses recursion or a sorting algorithm, +post it in the Weeks 11–20 forum.
+Once you have addressed others’ feedback, post the final version of your essay, +acknowledging the commenters.
+Publish the essay (optional)
+If you want to publish your essay outside the M269 forums, you have several options.
+-
+
- Ask us in the forum to add your essay to the
algoesup
GitHub repository, + with a link from the example essays page. The copyright of your essay remains with you.
+ - Create your own GitHub repository for your notebook file. + (Learning how to use GitHub for software development is a valuable professional skill.) +
- Make your essay available via a cloud Jupyter environment, like + Cocalc, Colab, + Datalore and Deepnote. +