Please complete ASAP!
This lab consists of some simple tasks that you should complete on your own as soon as possible.
If you encounter any problems while completing these tasks, please post your question to Piazza, our class discussion site. The link to our Piazza course page is available in this site’s navigation bar.
As your next task, please review the policies of the course, which can be found in the syllabus and using the links in the navigation bar. In particular, please review carefully:
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Please use the link below to complete a short survey that is required of all students in CS 460.
CS 460 start-of-semester survey
The only required textbook is a coursepack containing all of the lecture notes. You can obtain it as a PDF here.
Throughout the coursepack, there are portions that you will need to fill in as you participate in the lectures and watch the pre-lecture videos. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to either:
download the PDF onto a tablet and mark it up there
or
purchase a printed version of the coursepack from Fedex Office for approximately $14.
To order a printed coursepack, send an email to
usa5012@fedex.com in which you copy and paste the following
template and make the appropriate replacements for all items
surrounded by brackets:
Subject: CS 460 Sullivan Dear Fedex Office team, I would like to order the coursepack for CS 460 taught by Dr. Sullivan. My contact phone number is [xxx-xxx-xxxx]. Thank you, [first name] [surname/lastname]
Important notes:
After emailing your order using the above template, please wait to hear back from FedEx Office. They will email you to indicate that they have received your order, and they will also email you when they are ready for you to come in and pick it up at the corner of Commonwealth Ave and Cummington Mall.
You do not need to send them the PDF for the coursepack. They already have it.
We’ll be using Top Hat for pre-lecture quizzes and in-lecture exercises.
Top Hat Pro requires a paid subscription, and a full breakdown of the available subscription options can be found here.
You just need Top Hat. You do not need any add-ons.
You should receive an email invitation from Top Hat with all of the necessary information. If you don’t receive this email, you can also find our lecture section’s Top Hat URL and join code in the Announcements section of our Blackboard site. Use the Blackboard link in the navigation bar to find it.
For more information, consult the Top Hat Overview and Getting Started Guide.
Should you require assistance with Top Hat at any time, please contact
their support team directly by email (support@tophat.com),
the in-app support button, or phone (1-888-663-5491).
We will be using VS Code to write Java code for several of the homework assignments.
If you already have a version VS Code on your current laptop and you have used it to write Java code, you can skip to the next task.
Otherwise, follow the appropriate instructions for your operating system:
Once you have installed the necessary software, we recommend that you test it by creating and running a simple program. If you encounter any issues in doing so, come to office hours or post a question on Piazza.
Last updated on September 12, 2025.