SIPB IAP 2007 Activities
Thu Jan 25, 07:30-09:30pm, 56-114
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Some Gentoo experience
This session will cover advanced usage of Gentoo Linux, a versatile and fast distribution for x86, PowerPC, Sparc, Alpha, AMD64, IA64, and MIPS systems that is geared towards Linux power users.
Details of Portage, the Gentoo package management system, will be presented. We will discuss creation of ebuild scripts, usage of various system tools such as qpkg and etcat. We will also have a detailed look into the init scripts system, and the various settings in make.conf. Current Gentoo users are encouraged to attend with their questions and anecdotes.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/gentoo
Contact: Rajiv Manglani, W20-557 x3-7788, sipb-iap-gentoo@mit.edu
Wed Jan 17, 24, 31, 04-05:00pm, 35-225
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions
Prereq: You have completed the emacs tutorial or are curious about emacs.
Emacs is a text editor which is more powerful than most realize. It
can be customized to suit one's needs and extended to do almost
arbitrary things. This class covers useful emacs features, customizing
emacs, and extending emacs to do your bidding.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/emacs
Contact: Phil Sung, W20-557 x3-7788, sipb-iap-emacs@mit.edu
Wed Jan 24, 04-10:00pm, 1-150
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Prior experience in a C-like language (C++, Java, Perl, etc.)
C's influence is deeply pervasive in today's software systems, and in the many currently-popular programming languages derived from C. In fact, C plays a role somewhat similar to the one once played by assembly language: even if you don't do any actual day-to-day C programming, knowing C can be a huge help in better understanding the other systems and languages you are working with.
This class will attempt to cover the entire C programming language in 3 hours, in the grand tradition of SIPB's IAP caffeinated crash courses. Prior programming experience, preferably in a C-like language (C++, Java, Perl, etc.) is very definitely assumed.
There will be a bonus 2-hour section following the first half, for those whose brains have not yet leaked out of their ears.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/cccc
Contact: Steve Summit, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-cccc@mit.edu
Fri Jan 26, 01-04:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Some programming experience
A three-hour introduction to the C++ programming language.
Basic syntax, data types, and control flow. Object basics.
Dynamic memory management. Polymorphism and templates.
Standard library. Useful tools.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/caffeinatedplusplus
Contact: Mike Rolish, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-caffeinatedplusplus@mit.edu
Wed Jan 31, 04-07:00pm, 2-135
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Some programming experience; high confusion threshold.
Perl is the duct tape of the computing world -- it has a light side, a
dark side, and (if you're running Debian) it holds your operating
system together. This class will teach you to choose the light side
— that is, how to write simple, useful Perl scripts without having it
turn into a gooey, sticky mess.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/caffeinatedperl
Contact: Kevin Riggle, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-caffeinatedperl@mit.edu
Tue Jan 9, Thu Jan 11, 06-08:00pm, 37-212
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: Have done at least some minimal programming in any language
This class aims to give a basic introduction to the Java programming language. It's targeted at people who have never programmed in Java before. Come here to learn the power and flexibility of the Java model of Object-Oriented Programming, and learn to make both standalone applications and Web applets that you can include in your personal Web site.
In the first class, we'll be reviewing basic programming concepts and learning to write a simple applet. In the second class, we'll be looking at more-powerful uses of Object-Oriented Programming.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/java
Contact: Adam Seering, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-java@mit.edu
Mon, Wed, Jan 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31, 02-04:00pm, 35-225
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Minimal programming experience
Interested in C, but not enough time for 1.00 or 10.001?
This course will cover the fundamentals of programming in C, including basic control structures, functions, pointers and arrays, and an introduction to the C standard library.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/c
Contact: Michael Shaw, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-c@mit.edu
Mon, Wed, Jan 15, 17, 22, 24, 08-09:00pm, 1-246
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Some experience with XML/HTML, some programming background
XSLT is a programming language specifically intended for converting XML input into XML, HTML, or textual output. This course will go through the basics of XSLT 1.0, including an examination of XML namespaces, XPath and XSLT syntax, and some examples.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/xslt
Contact: David Maze, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-xslt@mit.edu
Thu Jan 11, 18, 04-06:00pm, 1-150
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: JavaScript or C-like language, XML syntax, basic CSS
This class will walk through the creation of a simple Firefox extension. Topics will include
extension packaging, creation of new UI, modification of existing UI, and implementation in
JavaScript of the functionality the UI exposes.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/firefox
Contact: Jeff Walden, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-firefox@mit.edu
Mon Jan 15, 06-07:00pm, 2-105; Tue Jan 16, 06-07:00pm, 1-134; Wed Jan 17, 06-07:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: Familiarity with Debian, no programming experience necessary.
This class is intended for users of the Debian operating system who are interested in helping make this already awesome project even more awesome. In three sessions, we'll cover how the development community works, submitting great bug reports, creating your own Debian packages, and finally going through the Debian New Maintainer process to become an official Debian Developer. You'll learn about Debian's wide selection of development tools in the process.
Session 1 will cover the Debian bugtracker and development community.
Session 2 will be a crash course in Debian packaging.
Session 3 will cover the Debian New Maintainer process.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/debian
Contact: Christine Spang, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-debian@mit.edu
Thu Feb 1, 07:30-09:30pm, 56-114
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: interest in user experience
Gel ("Good Experience Live") is a conference and community exploring good experience in all its forms — in business, art, society, technology, and life. Join us as we watch sessions from the 2006 conference DVD: Seth Godin, author, entrepreneur; Craig Newmark of craigslist.org; Douglas Rushkoff, Rick Smolan, creator of the Day in the Life photography series; Charlie Todd, urban prankster.
If you plan on attending, please RSVP to rajiv@alum.mit.edu
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/gel
Contact: Rajiv Manglani, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-gel@mit.edu
Mon Jan 15, 06-08:00pm, 4-237
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Linux or UNIX experience
Gentoo Linux is a versatile and fast distribution for x86, PowerPC, Sparc, Alpha, AMD64, IA64, and MIPS systems that is geared towards Linux power users. Unlike other distros, Gentoo Linux has an advanced package management system called Portage. Portage is a true ports system in the tradition of BSD ports, but is Python-based and sports a number of advanced features including dependencies, fine-grained package management, "fake" (OpenBSD-style) installs, path sandboxing, safe unmerging, system profiles, virtual packages, config file management, and more. A completed Gentoo Linux installation is customized and optimized for your specific needs.
We will have an overview presentation and a demo of a running Gentoo system.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/gentoo
Contact: Rajiv Manglani, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-gentoo@mit.edu
Tue, Thu, Fri, Jan 23, 25, 26, 30, Feb 1, 2, 07-10:00pm, 1-190
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Linux or UNIX experience
A general introduction to the Python programming language. Some prior programming experience helpful, but not required.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/python
Contact: Omri Schwarz, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-python@mit.edu
Mon Jan 29, 06-08:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Interest in web application development.
Ruby on Rails is an open-source web framework that is optimized for
programmer happiness and sustainable productivity. It lets you write
beautiful code by favoring convention over configuration. We will take
a tour through the framework, look at popular sites using Rails, and we
will even build a database-driven web application during the class.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/ror
Contact: Rajiv Manglani, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-ror@mit.edu
Tue Jan 9, 16, 23, 30, 08-10:00pm, 1-115
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: None, but RPG or Roguelike experience is a big plus.
Ascend to the status of demigod(-dess) this IAP in Nethack! Nethack is a game where you are the @ and you push j to go south, where you are killed by a newt. If you enjoyed Diablo but it was much too easy, or enjoyed adventure games but want something more tactical, Nethack is for you. In four simple classes, members of MIT's third-in-the-world Nethack team (really!) will teach you to handle everything from lichen (F) to arch-liches (purple L).
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/nethack
Contact: Rachel Dillon, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-nethack@mit.edu
Tue Jan 30, Thu Feb 1, 04-06:00pm, 1-115
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Some prior programming experience; 6.001 would be good.
Is Scheme just a silly academic language for introductory CS courses, or is it actually a useful language for building complex programs? What you know of Scheme so far may incline you toward the former, but I will show that you are wrong! Can Scheme draw graphics? Absolutely. Can Scheme do web applications? Yes, and it is among the most flexible languages for doing so. Concurrent, distributed computation? Shell scripting? And more...
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/scheme
Contact: Taylor R. Campbell, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-scheme@mit.edu
Tue Jan 23, Thu Jan 25, Tue Jan 30, Thu Feb 1, 05:30-07:30pm, 56-114
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: some programming experience.
Introduction to programming in Perl: syntax, flow control, I/O, regular
expressions, data structures, objects, and some CGI programming.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/perl
Contact: Quentin Smith, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-perl@mit.edu
Tue Jan 16, 02-03:00pm, 4-149 note room change; Thu Jan 18, Tue Jan 23, Thu Jan 25, 02-03:00pm, 4-261; Wed Jan 31, 07-08:00pm, 2-135
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants requested to attend all sessions (non-series)
Prereq: Familiarity with programming languages.
PostScript is the standard page description language, and the language which PDF, the standard document interchange format, is based upon. This class provides an introduction to PostScript, how to write both PostScript programs and programs that write PostScript, and an overview of the structure and construction of PDF files.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/postscript
Contact: Bayard Wenzel, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-postscript@mit.edu
Mon Jan 15, Wed Jan 17, Fri Jan 19, 04-06:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions.
Prereq: Participants should be familiar with perl and web programming.
This class is an intro to writing web applications with Jifty, new web
programming framework in Perl. I will show how Jifty makes the easy
things trivial, and then delve into its unique architecture that takes
much of the pain and repetition out of writing complex, interactive,
applications for the web. I will even explore how Jifty allows you to
create complex AJAX behavior without writing one line of javascript.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/webapps
Contact: Nelson Elhage, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-webapps@mit.edu
Wed Jan 31, 05-07:00pm, 14-0637
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
This class will cover credit card and PayPal processing, fulfillment, couponing, RSS support, user accounts, and content management.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/ruby
Contact: Chris Porter, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-ruby@mit.edu
Tue Jan 30, 02-04:00pm, 1-190
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: Some experience with Unix and basic tools (ls, echo, cat)
Shell scripts are the common method of automating command-prompt tasks on Unix systems. This class will introduce the shell (the command-prompt), explain how the shell reacts to your typing, and present the fundamentals of shell programming.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/shell
Contact: Yoyo Zhou, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-shell@mit.edu
Thu Jan 18, 06-08:00pm, 1-134 and Mon Jan 22, 05-07:00pm, 2-105
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Participants welcome at individual sessions (series)
Prereq: a basic knowledge of SolidWorks, or an interest in learning
This session is for anyone who is interested in exploring the capabilities of SolidWorks, or anyone who wants help learning the program. Bring questions, problems you are working on, basically anything from how to install the software from the MechE license server, to advanced meshes in CosmosWorks; all are welcome.
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/solidworks
Contact: Alex Slocum, Jr., W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-solidworks@mit.edu
Wed Jan 31, 05-06:00pm, 1-150
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
Prereq: familiarity with using Athena and installing Mac software.
This is for any Athena user who owns a Mac. Learn how to access files, lockers, Zephyr, and many other Athena services directly from your Mac, by installing standard UNIX tools such as AFS and Kerberos. Laptops are welcome!
Web: http://stuff.mit.edu/iap/2007/mac
Contact: Geoffrey Thomas, W20-557, x3-7788, sipb-iap-mac@mit.edu
Tue Jan 16, 05-06:00pm, 1-134
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
scripts.mit.edu makes it possible to easily create an MIT website with one or more personal wikis, blogs, and/or photo galleries. We will explain how to use this service and answer any questions.
Web: http://scripts.mit.edu
Contact: Jeff Arnold, W20-557, x3-7788, scripts@mit.edu