All questions of potential general interest should be posted through Ed (follow the link from the navigation bar). You can even ask questions anonymously on Ed!
- As a courtesy, before asking for help, please check Ed as well as the pages under “Help” to see if your question has already been addressed previously.
- Private inquiries/requests (e.g., SDAO) should be directed to compsci-516@duke.edu, which will reach all senior course staff. Emailing individual instructors or TAs will have much longer delays.
Office Hours
See here for up-to-date office hours and locations offered by the course staff.
Course Containers
The course staff supports the following options:
- Local (Docker) containers: This option is recommended if you prefer to work on your personal laptop. You will need to install Docker on your laptop. Then, the entire course computing infrastructure will run as “containers” on your laptop, which you will have access any time, even without an Internet connection. Setup instructions:
- Duke OIT containers: This option is available to everybody. Here, the containers run remotely on Duke OIT servers. You don’t need to install anything on your computer, and you can work on your containers from any computer with a web browser. However, you won’t be able to work offline without an Internet connection. Setup instructions:
- Visit Duke OIT Container Manager site and reserve a CS316/516 container. Once reserved, open the CONTAINER CONTROLS info pane, and you will see a login button that lets you log into your container shell through your browser. There is also a lot of other information that will be useful for running your code and/or accessing various software installed on the course container; they will be relevant later.
- Follow instructions to ready your container for the course.
- Follow instructions to set up Visual Studio Code to work with your container.
It may be helpful to look over some Linux Basics.
Other Technical Documentation
- Relational data: PostgreSQL Tips
- “Big” data: Spark Tips
- Web/mobile application development:
- Skeleton codebase for the standard Mini-Amazon course project and the associated tutorial.
- Flask/Python Tips
- Duke OIT offers a wealth of relevant Roots courses/tutorials/workshops, e.g., Build Your First iPhone or iPad App, Making Your Website Interactive, Intro to React.js, Introduction to Linux, etc. Advance registration required.
- Duke Co-Lab offers office hours on full-stack web development
Additional Help
Both your academics and your health and wellness are of primary importance at Duke, and the university offers additional resources to help you both academically and in managing your daily stress and self-care:
- The Academic Resource Center (ARC) offers services to support students academically during their undergraduate careers at Duke. The ARC can provide support with time management, academic skills and strategies, unique learning styles, peer tutoring, learning consultations, learning communities, and more. ARC services are available free to any Duke undergraduate student, in any year, studying in any discipline. (919) 684-5917, theARC@duke.edu.
- DuWell: (919) 681-8421, duwell@studentaffairs.duke.edu.
Specifically, if your mental health concerns and/or stressful events negatively affect your daily emotional state, academic performance, or ability to participate in your daily activities, many resources are available to help you through difficult times. Duke encourages all students to access these resources:
- DukeReach Provides comprehensive outreach services to identify and support students in managing all aspects of well-being.
- Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) include individual, group, and couples counseling services, health coaching, psychiatric services, and workshops and discussions. (919) 660-1000.
- Blue Devils Care is a convenient and cost-effective way for Duke students to receive 24/7 mental health support through TalkNow and scheduled counseling.
- Two-Click Support is a Duke Student Government and DukeReach partnership that connects students to help in just two clicks.
