• You are expected to work alone on some assignments and with other students on other assignments as listed in the assignment specifications. When working alone, you must do all your own work. You may discuss assignments with other people, but ultimately you must write the code yourself. Not writing all the code yourself is cheating.

• When working with others, the assignment specifies how you must contribute. Group work can accelerate learning, but only when each student takes responsibility for mastering all the assigned material. Little is learned if each student works only part of the assignment and merely copies answers for the rest.

• If the assignment seems too hard to complete without more help, whether working in groups or not, then you should contact me. My job is to help you understand the material. As an option, you may discuss your assignment, and show your code to, another De Anza College Instructor if they agree. Note that this list does not include tutors. Tutors must follow the same rules for acceptable help as other non-students.

• You may still help other students, and receive help from other students (or tutors), and I encourage you to do so. The following lists are intended to help clarify the rules about appropriate assistance for assignments:

1. Showing others how to use or solve problems with computer applications such as compilers, text-editors and debuggers, or receiving such help.
2. Discussing problems and ideas for solving problems with other students or tutors.
3. Describing your algorithms to other students using diagrams, psuedocode or natural-language statements (unless that was the assigned homework).
4. Looking at another person's code and pointing out an error, as long as you do not write, type, dictate, or otherwise communicate the actual program code required by the assignment.

   Tip: if you need to write code when explaining a problem, then use an example that is not part of the assignment.

Unacceptable Help:

1. Typing or writing any homework solution (or parts of a homework solution) for another person, or allowing someone to type or write a homework solution for you.
2. Looking at another person's homework code while typing or writing your homework code.
3. Listening to someone else dictate homework code while typing or writing, or dictating to someone else the homework code to type or write.
4. Providing a copy of your assignment solution, or any other person's solution, to anyone who is taking this course or might take this course in the future, including posting your solution online or emailing it to someone.
5. Receiving a copy of an assignment solution, or a part of a solution, from anyone until after you make a final submittal of your assignment and the due date has passed.

These are not all-inclusive lists. Students are expected to interpret and apply the overall concepts of academic honesty in good faith. If you have questions about what is permissible, please ask me.

Also, note that these rules do not prohibit you from sharing assignment solutions with other students after after both you and the other student have made a final submittal of the assignment and the due date has passed. Reviewing other people's solutions can help you learn, but it is cheating unless you have already completed the assignment on your own.