CodeLab

CodeLab is a set of interactive programming exercises — originally targeted to introductory programming courses. Over the course of time, added features — in particular the ability to check full programs and not just small code fragments— has made it useful for more advanced classes as well. It was developed by Turing's Craft, a company founded by myself and David Arnow (another CIS faculty member).

The main goals of CodeLab is to give you practice writing code and evaluate your assignments. A typical CodeLab course consists of sets of small, very focused exercises corresponding to a topic in the lectures; and 'Labs' — sets of one or more larger exercises, usually full programs. There are deadlines assigned to each exercises and you are expected to abide by them. CodeLab provides immediate feedback as to the correctness of your submission, and often provides information on what is wrong and sometimes even how to fix it. The Lab home page for your course contains more information on how to submit and interact with CodeLab.

CodeLab is free to Brooklyn College students-- all you have to do is register for the CodeLab for our section. Go to turingscraft.com and click on the register link in the upper right hand corner. Follow the instructions, and when asked for the section access code, type in the value that you received from. That's it!

Once you've registered, you're good to go. Go back to the Turing's Craft Home Page and this time click login. Enter the username/password you registered with and begin using CodeLab.

These exercises are a great way for you to get feedback on whether you're understanding the material in class. The system is not meant as a quiz or testing device-- it's there to help you. If you submit an incorrect solution, you can always try again-- make sure you read the hints and feedback the system gives you-- it will usually help you on your way to a correct submission.