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Intro to CS 9-10 / Week 02 / Friday
5/6
Week 02 · Algorithms in Pseudocode

Friday

Impact Friday: Credit where it is due
// Exact steps, variables and expressions
⏱ about 20 min

Friday: Impact Friday: Credit Where It Is Due

Priya sends a short routine over the relay. It averages a whole row of readings, and it already works.

Comet copies it straight into Beacon's pseudocode. "Done! That saved us an hour."

Wren looks over his shoulder. "Whose code is this, though? Beacon's notes make it look like you wrote it."

"I just borrowed it," Comet says. "Priya won't mind."

Nova floats down between them. "Interesting," she says. "Borrowing is fine. Hiding where it came from is not."

Comet picks up a pencil. "So how do I give Priya the credit?"

Acknowledge code from others

It is important to acknowledge any code segments that were developed with others or by another source.

The acknowledgement should include where the code came from or the name of the original author.

Material created on a computer is the intellectual property of the person or organization that created it.

Using material someone else created, without permission, and presenting it as your own is plagiarism. It may have legal consequences.

Material created by someone other than you should always be cited.

SituationA good acknowledgement in Beacon's notes
Priya wrote the row-average routine.Row-average routine written by Priya, mission control.
Wren and you wrote the alert check together.Alert check written by Wren and the developer, together.
Tomas drew the growth chart idea in his notebook.Growth chart idea from Tomas, greenhouse botanist.
CREDIT OR PLAGIARISM?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Comet uses Priya's routine and writes "Row-average routine written by Priya" in Beacon's notes.
Comet uses Priya's routine and tells everyone she invented it.
What should an acknowledgement include?
WHOSE WORK IS IT?
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Tomas sketches a chart idea on a computer. Who does the material belong to?
You and Wren write a routine together. What should Beacon's notes say?

Week review

Week reviewTrue or false?
An algorithm is a finite set of instructions that accomplish a specific task.?
A variable keeps the first value ever assigned to it.?
In our pseudocode, the assignment arrow is read aloud as gets.?
Parentheses can change the value of an expression.?
Code written by someone else never needs to be cited.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThese ideas are the base for every line of Beacon you write from now on.
OUR WEEK, IN ORDER
  • ?We learned to credit code from others.
  • ?We traced Comet's routine in a trace table.
  • ?We turned a vague note into an exact algorithm.
  • ?We stored readings in variables with meaningful names.
  • ?We wrote expressions and fixed an average.
WHY THIS EXERCISEEach day added one tool for writing exact, honest pseudocode.
Presenting someone else's work as your own is ____.
A variable holds the most ____ value assigned to it.
Who wrote the row-average routine that Comet borrowed? Type a name.
WHY THIS EXERCISEAn acknowledgement names the original author or where the code came from.
Try it
Find a recipe, a song sheet or a game rule card at home.
Look for who created it. If there is no name, write how you would cite where it came from.
On paper, design a small credits box for Beacon's notes page. List each borrowed or shared piece of code and who it came from.

What a week, developer. Tomorrow's Mission Quest turns your family into a human computer.

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