6.824 - Spring 2013

General Information

Structure // Grading policy // Staff // Office Hours // Acknowledgements //

Structure

6.824 is a core graduate subject with lectures, labs, a mid-term quiz, a final project, and a final exam. 6.824 is 12 units. 6 EDPs.

Class meets Tue/Thu 1:00pm to 2:30pm in 32-144. Most class meetings will be part lecture and part paper discussion. You should read the paper before coming to class, and be prepared to discuss it. You can find out what paper to read for each meeting in the schedule.

We will post a question about each paper 24 hours before the beginning of class. Your answer need only be long enough to demonstrate that you understand the paper; a paragraph or two will usually be enough. We won't give feedback, but we will glance at your answers to make sure they make sense, and they will count for part of the paper discussion grade.

6.824 will have a quiz during class in the middle of the term, and a final exam during finals week.

There are programming labs due every week or two throughout the term.

Towards the end of the term you'll undertake a project of your choice in a team of two or three students. The project must involve ideas covered in the course. You'll hand in a short project proposal, have three meetings with course staff to talk about the project, present a short a demonstration to the whole class, and hand in a two-page description of your results.

Grading

Grade for this class will be based on:
You can hand in your lab solutions late, but the total amount of lateness summed over all the deadlines must not exceed 72 hours. If you don't hand in an assignment at all, or don't hand it in by the last day of classes, we'll give the assignment an F. If you hand an assignment in late, and your total late time (including the late time for that assignment) exceeds 72 hours, and you hand it in by the last day of classes, then we'll give it a D or an F depending on whether it seems to basically work. You can divide up your 72 hours among the labs however you like; you don't have to ask or tell us. You can only use the 72 hours for the labs; for example, you cannot use them for any aspect of the final project. If you want an exception to this rule, please bring us a letter from a dean.

Collaboration policy

You must write all the code you hand in for the programming assignments, except for code that we give you as part of the assignment. You are not allowed to look at anyone else's solution (and you're not allowed to look at solutions from previous years). You may discuss the assignments with other students, but you may not look at or use each other's code.

You may discuss the questions for each discussion paper with other students, but you may not look at other students' answers. You must write your answers yourself.

Staff

Please use the mailing list (6.824-staff@pdos.csail.mit.edu) to send questions or comments about the course to the staff.

Lecturer
Robert Morris 32-G972 3-5983 rtm@csail.mit.edu
 
Teaching assistants
Neha Narula 32-G980 narula@gmail.com
Charles Gruenwald 32-G742 cg3@mit.edu

Office hours

Robert: Wednesdays 1:00 to 2:00, 32-G972, or by appointment.

Neha and Charles: Thursdays 5:00 to 6:30 , 36-372, or by appointment.

Acknowledgements

Frans Kaashoek developed much of the 6.824 course material.

Questions or comments regarding 6.824? Send e-mail to 6.824-staff@pdos.csail.mit.edu.

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