Programming 1

Dear all,

next semester, you will most likely attend the lecture Programming 2. To help you get started there, the tutors have created the Programming 2 Precourse.
There, you can get familiar with imperative programming in assembly language, and also learn the basics of Git and Unix, which you will need in Programming 2.

The Precourse takes places at 8.4. and 10.4-12.4. You can register now at https://precourse.prog2.de

Dear students,

tomorrow (Tuesday, January 30th), the tutors offer an auxiliary tutorial.
The auxiliary tutorial is an optional offer by tutors to help you with topics
they judge as especially complex.
During the tutorial, more complex exercises are solved and discussed.
In that, the tutorial augments the normal tutorials.

The topic of the upcoming auxiliary tutorial is Running time and Induction Proofs.

Location: lecture hall II in building E2 5
Time: 18:00 to 20:00 (6 pm to 8 pm)

Yours sincerely,
The Prog1 team

Dear students,

As the semester nears its end, we value your feedback and insights on your experience in Programming 1.

Your opinion matters, and participating in the course evaluation is an opportunity for you to share your thoughts, suggestions, and reflections about the course. Your input helps us understand what worked well and what areas may need improvement, allowing us to enhance the quality of the course.

To participate, simply login to CMS, use the two links (one to evaluate the lecture and one to evaluate the tutorial) and take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback is anonymous and will remain confidential. You can fill out the forms until January 30.

Thank you for your time!

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear students,

today Dr. Ralf Karrenberg from NVIDIA, formerly a student at Saarland University, is giving a talk about
"Compilers, Ray Tracing, and AI at NVIDIA"

The talk aligns with our current lecture focus on compilers, interpreters, and runtime, complementing the latest kNobel exercise.

We invite you to attend and see how the topics we learn at Saarland University are applied in industry.

Details:
Topic: Compilers, Ray Tracing, and AI at NVIDIA
Speaker: Dr. Ralf Karrenberg
Time: 12:15pm
Venue: Lecture Hall 002, Building E1 3

An old joke goes “ray tracing is the technology of the future and always will be”.
A few years after the release of the first desktop-class GPU with dedicated ray tracing hardware the games industry has well and truly arrived in that future - also thanks to a significant contribution from AI, and some foundational compiler technology.

We’ll take a look at the role that NVIDIA’s ray tracing driver and its compiler infrastructure play in running today’s games. This will be accompanied by lessons learned and stories from a journey that led from Saarland University to contributing to Hollywood blockbusters in New Zealand to helping prototype and productize the first game-centric ray tracing API (“DirectX Raytracing”). 

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear students,

the midterm results are published.
You can find them on your personal status page.

The midterm inspection will take place on Monday, 18th December.
If your surname starts with a letter A-K you can inspect your exam between 9 to 10.
If your surname starts with a letter L-Z you can inspect your exam between 10 to 11.
Be on time as we will not hand out exams in the last minutes of the time slot.
We will announce the exam inspection room on Monday morning.

Please note that while 30% of the midterm points are sufficient for the admission criterion,
you will need 50% of the test points for admission; and pass the endterm.
The midterm can serve as an indication of your understanding thus far.

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear students,

you can find your assigned seat for the midterm on your personal status page.
Make sure to arrive at the corresponding lecture hall by 9:45 on the 16th.
Make sure to bring your student ID and a document-proof pen in black or blue.

Note that the office hour next Monday is moved to room 002 in E1 7.
Further, note that there will be no office hours on the 22nd of December and the 2nd of January.
There will also be no lecture and tutorial on the 2nd and 3rd January.

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear students,

the tutor team offers an additional XXL office hour this Thursday.
The XXL office hour starts at 12:15 (after the lecture) in lecture hall three in E1 3.
At 14:00, the office hour moves to 407 in E1 1 and lasts until 18:00.
See the timetable for the events.

Additionally, the tutors wrote an auxiliary explanation on trees, labeled trees, and
tree folding.
You can find it in the material section of the CMS.

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear students,

The midterm exam will take place on Saturday, December 16. This is a reminder that you have to register for this exam on your personal status page until Sunday, December 10, 23:59, if you want to participate.
The registration only takes place in the CMS. An exam registration in LSF or VIPA/FlexNow is neither sufficient nor necessary for the midterm!

Please note that you will need to pass the midterm exam with 30% of the points to get admitted to the final exam.

The midterm exam is expected to start at 9:59 am.
You should arrive at least 15 minutes early to ensure a smooth start.
We will announce further details in due time.

Kind regards,
Your Programming 1 team

Dear all,

we have decided to waive the admission requirements for the midterm exam.
Everyone is eligible to participate.
The admission requirements for the endterm exam are modified in the following way:
To be admitted to the endterm, you have to achieve at least 30% of the points of the midterm exam
and get at least 50% of the points of all minitests.

Dear students,

today (Tuesday, November 28th), the tutors offer an auxiliary tutorial.
The auxiliary tutorial is an optional offer by tutors to help you with topics
they judge as especially complex.
During the tutorial, more complex exercises are solved and discussed.
In that, the tutorial augments the normal tutorials.

The topic of the upcoming auxiliary tutorial is Folding.

Location: lecture hall I in building E2 5
Time: 18:00 to 20:00 (6 pm to 8 pm)

Yours sincerely,
The Prog1 team

Dear students,

the mock exam for the midterm takes place next Saturday (02.12.) at 9:59.
The mock exam is organized by the tutors and is completely voluntary. It is a chance for you to see how exams are conducted at university, under conditions that are as realistic as possible. It does not contribute to the final grade or eligibility for taking exams. The mock exam is entirely created by tutors. Therefore, its content is neither relevant nor irrelevant for the real exam.

The mock exam takes place in the Günther-Hotz lecture hall (E2 2).
Be there 15 minutes ahead of time to ensure a smooth start.
After the registration phase is over, we will assign you a seat.
You will then be able to see your seat assignment on your personal status page in the CMS.
If you want to participate, please be on time and bring your student ID on Saturday. No auxiliary materials (calculator, cheat sheets, …) are allowed.

The mock exam will take around 90 minutes. Afterward, we will present partial solutions for some of the exercises.

The registration for the mock exam was extended until Tuesday, 28.11. 23:59.
Note that for the midterm and endterm, the registration closes one week before the exam 
(or earlier depending on your study regulations).

We are looking forward to seeing you!

Regards,
Your Prog1 tutors

Dear students,

Based on the feedback we have received, we have decided to change the topics of the upcoming mini-tests.
The next test will cover the topic of the last tutorial.
Therefore, the test topics will refer to the lectures two weeks before.
The topics of the exercise sheets and tutorials will not change.

For instance, the test next Wednesday (22.11.) will again be based on the material
from lectures 7.11. and 9.11. 
These lectures correspond to exercise sheet B.
The topics are therefore higher-order iteration and list bases.

Yours sincerely,
The Prog1 team

Dear students,

This is a reminder that the first office hour will be today at 14:15 in building E1.3, seminar room 015.

The office hours are a voluntary offer by the tutors.
During the office hour, you can work on the tutorial- and exercise sheet.
There will be fellow students and tutors available for discussions
and to answer your questions.
You can read more about the office hours here:
https://cms.sic.saarland/prog1_23/5/Procedure

See you there
The Prog1 Team

Dear students,

We finished and released the tutorial assignment.
You should see your tutor, time slot, and tutorial room on your personal status page.

Although we were able to assign tutorials that are nearly optional for 99% of students
according to the exclusion points, your assigned tutorial might still not fit you best.
We created a forum post where you can find another student to swap the tutorial slot with.
https://prog1.sic.saarland/t/tutorial-swap/311
If you found a swap partner, write an email with your two names to ullrich@cs.uni-saarland.de

Be reminded that the first tutorial will be tomorrow, October 25th.

See you tomorrow
The Prog1 Team