Questions are typically short (but not necessarily easy) and test some specific aspect of the course material. Many will involve programming (some high-level in C++ or Racket, some low-level in MIPS machine or assembly language) but some will involve other tasks.

Projects ask you to write medium-sized C++ or Racket programs that form the major components of the compiler we want to write in this course, which translates a high-level C-like language called WLP4 into MIPS machine code.

Public tests are simple and usually just check that you have understood the input/output requirements. They are not worth any marks. Public test results are available immediately after Marmoset finishes testing your submission.

Release tests tend to be more in-depth and will include things like edge cases or tests of efficiency. To view release test results, you must spend a release token. After passing the public tests, you will see a link to spend a token and view the release test results. If you fail a release test, you will sometimes be given the test input that caused you to fail, but in some cases the test input is hidden.

You get 1 release token for each Question or Project, and after spending the token, it takes 12 hours to regenerate. We recommend starting the assignments early so you get lots of chances to use release tokens. However, you should also do thorough testing on your own so that you don’t waste release tokens on silly mistakes.

Secret tests are only used in Projects. They are completely hidden on Marmoset until after the deadline. Before the deadline, you cannot even see how many marks are allocated to secret tests on Marmoset. However, the specification page for each Project will state how many marks are allocated to secret tests.