comments on class 08:

• Forgot the better ascii table --> next time
• The discussion of the strings/formatting was OK, but the discussion of the second script that reads files was rushed and definitely not enough to teach the material. I understand that students are frustrated, but one has to start somewhere. Programming is ultimately learned by doing and practise, and, quite frankly, by making mistakes and correcting them. Therefore, going forward, the next lab session is entirely devoted to understanfing this script.
• Furtermore, I have so far not addressed how to efficiently writing code. That was fine for the first baby steps, but as code gets longer and more complex one needs to employ a more systematic approach. Without that, one sees a lot of red (MATLAB error messages) which can be frustrating. I did not realize how badly some students felt about this (kudos to those who came forward and told me). One tends to see it as a persomal failure, but it isn't. It's a learning experience, and, believe me, I see a lot of red also. In the next lecture I'll address that and explain how to code efficiently and to minimize the red messages.
• I deliberately have chosen to bring files and I/O (input/output) very early. Most books (I have looked at at least half a dozen) and lectures do this further down the road. By mastering I/O, one can much better address real-life problems, which is what you need to do in the real world. Without being able to read data into a MATLAB code one is more or less restricted to made-up problems, which IMHO is boring.

    A   A-   B+    B   B-   C+    C   C-   D+    D   D-    F
   30    5    8   13    6   15    3    6    5    3    6    5
 
 
   'A' grades:     35
   'B' grades:     29
   'C' grades:     24
   'D' grades:     14
   'F' grades:     5
 
 
   grade average:  2.71 of 105  (a bit better than B-)
 
 
   median:  between B+ and B
 
 
   25 out of 105 below C (24%)
   80 out of 105 C or above (76%)
 
 
   UNH grade scale: (https://www.unh.edu/uac/faculty/general-advising-information)
 
 
      A     (4.00)      excellent
      A-    (3.67)    intermediate grade
      B+    (3.33)    intermediate grade
      B    (3.00)    superior
      B-    (2.67)    intermediate grade
      C+    (2.33)    intermediate grade
      C    (2.00)    satisfactory, competent
      C-    (1.67)    intermediate grade
      D+    (1.33)    intermediate grade
      D    (1.00)    marginal grade
      D-    (0.67)    intermediate grade (passing grade)
      F    (0.00)    failure: academic performance so deficient in quality as to be unacceptable for credit