Honor Code Examples Page
Note: Any specific websites, tools, hardware, or software listed below are EXAMPLES. This is not a comprehensive list of all possible violations. General rules and guidelines can be found here: Honor Code.
CS-Freshman Example:
Sam receives a homework assignment in CS211 that asks him to write a “merge sort” in Java.
The following are/aren’t ok for Sam to do:
- Just Fine:
- Use the algorithm explained in the textbook for his class.
- Use the pseudocode given in the lecture slides by his professor.
- Read Oracle’s Java Tutorials to remember how to write a loop. (Oracle maintains Java’s official language documentation.)
- Visit a TA during office hours to get help with his implementation.
- Ask a classmate “what is a NullPointerException?” – a topic discussed in class
- Not OK (and why not):
- Google “merge sort in Java” and read a tutorial website to “get inspiration” – Sam is cheating by getting additional help with his implementation.
- Take code from the tutorial website and use it as the “model” for his work – Sam is claiming someone else’s work as his own.
- Take his work and put it on Pastebin (a website that gives public access to anything uploaded) – Sam has just given the homework answers to anyone searching that site.
- Post his code to the class discussion forum in a “public” post for the whole class to view – Same as above.
- Leave his computer on and unlocked in his dorm which he shares with another student – Sam is allowing anyone who enters the room to take his work.
CS-Senior Example:
Sam wants to share her school work with a potential employer.
The following are/aren’t ok for Sam to do:
- Just Fine:
- Email her work privately to the employer.
- Post her code on a private GitHub repo and add the employer as a contributor.
- Not OK (and why not):
- Post the code on a public GitHub repo – Sam has just given the answer to a project to anyone on the internet, and if the project (or a similar one) is used again, she will be liable for access gained to her work.