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 complete a short survey that is required of all students in CS 460:
Make sure you are signed into your BU Google Drive account. Note that signing into BU Google Mail should accomplish the same thing.
Click on the following link to complete and submit the survey:
CS 460 start-of-semester survey
The only required textbook is a coursepack containing all of the lecture notes.
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:
purchase a printed version of the coursepack from Fedex Office for approximately $13. Note: You should NOT send an email to order the coursepack. Rather, you should simply go to Fedex Office at the corner of Comm Ave and Cummington Mall and purchase one there.
or
download the PDF onto a tablet and mark it up there.
Important: Laptop use during lecture is discouraged, because:
It can lead to distraction for yourself and others.
It will be easier to mark up the coursepack by hand, either on the printed version or on a tablet.
Research shows that hand-writing your notes promotes learning!
We will be using Top Hat for pre-lecture quizzes, in-lecture exercises and in-lecture attendance.
Top Hat 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 have already been added to the correct Top Hat class. If not, you can use the following URL and join code:
For more information, consult the Top Hat 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 recommend that you use an IDE called VSCodium (not VS Code) to write Java code for several of the homework assignments.
To install it, 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 9, 2026.