In this assignment, you'll refine the idea for your project. In contrast to the previous projects ideas you described, the project you describe in this assignment should be the one you plan to do. This is your chance to lay out some of your initial ideas, based on the feedback and thoughts you've had since the previous project ideas. Because you're describing only one project this week, be sure to take extra time to describe it well! Your goal should be to specify your current thoughts about the project, your current unknowns, and your sense of how suitable the project is for this course. Provide enough detail so that I and others in the class can give you helpful feedback. Aim for clarity; if you're not clear about something, say so!
Write your pitch by filling in (and expanding on) the prompts in pitch.md.
You'll notice that this file is quite similar (but not entirely the same) as the
one you filled out for your project ideas. You can copy / paste some of your
material from a project idea, if there's some overlap. But be sure to also
address my comments and the comments of anyone else to whom you haven't yet had
a chance to respond.
Additionally, be prepared to talk about your project in class on Monday, October 26. There's nothing to prepare for this discussion (other than doing this assignment); but be prepared to discuss. The goal for Monday's class will be to feel confident about your project, thanks to the work you've done for this assignment and the feedback you'll get in class.
Note: If you plan to work with someone on the project, each of you should write up your own, independent pitch. This will be the last project assignment you'll do on your own (other than the notebook).
Good responses (i.e., responses that receive a 3) will:
- fully respond to every prompt in the starter file, and
- be well-written and easy to read, i.e., clear yet concise using good spelling, grammar, organization, and proper formatting, to convey a well-formed idea, and
- where appropriate, support your thoughts with references to material from class, from the domain of your project, or from other solutions in the same domain.
Great responses (i.e., responses that receive a 4) will additionally:
- be particularly insightful about the needs of the user and about the suitability of the idea as a CS 111 project ("insightful" means that you've clearly articulated all the angles, the benefits and drawbacks, risks, etc.),
- be particularly clear about the challenges of the project and your current open questions about the project
- provide some initial, well-reasoned speculation about how the implementation will proceed, including: what you plan to work on first, whether the project might work best as an internal or external language, candidates for potential host languages, etc.
After the submission deadline, read over and comment on your critique partners' work. Be sure to comment on each of their ideas.
Here are some suggestions for critiques:
- What do you like about their idea?
- Was there a need that was similar to one you thought of? If so, how are your thoughts about the problems similar to and different from your partners?
- Do you know anything about this domain? Do you know of existing DSLs that they didn't mention or do you have some expertise thinking about or writing programs for this domain? How might your experience augment your partner's thoughts on the domain?
- Answer the questions about suitability, scope, etc. of the project.
- What's not clear about the project?
- Write responses in the file
pitch.md. - Submit your work.
- Comment on your critique partners' work.