Support
This page outlines the support available to you and how to access it.
My Code is Broken!
You have weekly support sessions with your tutor. You can find these sessions on your timetable.
They appear on the timetable as ‘TUT’ sessions attached to either COMP101 or GAM102 depending on the week. For computing students (ie, you), the sessions are for both modules:
My code has red-squiggles in it
IDEs are fairly advanced, they can tell you when there are errors in the code which mean the computer can’t understand it, or when there are errors which voilate certian rules (like type or uninitialised variables).
Syntax Errors
This indicates something not quite right with the way the code has been written on the page. This usually is the result of a missing (or extra) bracket, missing (or extra) semicolons, or code being in the wrong place. Put your mouse over the error and it’ll give you an idea of what the problem might be (the real problem might be somewhere above this, and the compiler has gotten confused).
Type Errors
Another common problem is arguments of the wrong type being used. We’ll talk about this in workshop sessions, but this isn’t unsual for people used to programming in Python or Javascript when they first encounter a staticly-typed language (like C#).
My code crashes
If your code compiles, but when you run it, the computer tells you the code is in a state which doesn’t make sense. In languages like C#, this will usually result in an ‘Exception’.
Here are some common examples of exceptions:
- IndexOutOfRangeException - tried to access index bigger than the size of the array (or less commonly, smaller than 0)
- NullReferenceException - tried to access a variable that is currently ’null’, usually means a variable wasn’t initialised when used.
More on exceptions and runtime errors
My code does the wrong thing
If the code compiles (ie doens’t say, ‘build failed’) but does the ‘wrong’ thing, this is usually an error in the logic of the process being followed. This usually is the result of either a misunderstanding or assumption which doesn’t hold true and is extremely common when programming. So much so, that there are entire sub-fields and techniques in our displine related to dealing with this (testing, continuous integration, defensive programming, and test driven development to name a few). Many of these you will encounter during your time here.
I will walk you through debugging practices in our sessions. A good understanding of programming fundimentals will help. Programming is a hard disipline. Everyone gets stuck on complex problems. The best way to work through these issues is to step through the problem. It may also help to come at the problem from a different direction.
In some programming languages with more complex rules (where the compiler writer is allowed to make assumptions), it could also be you’ve broken one of these assumptions (called ‘undefined behaviour’). This is less of an issue in a language like C#, where the program will throw an exception when you do so.
I have computer/account issue
Our computers and software stack are managed by the Games’ Technicans. The user accounts, emails and so forth are managed by FX Plus (IT services), so you will need to contact them. The games academy technicans cannot help with account-related issues such as forgotten passwords.
The workshop computer doesn’t work
Email games support with the machine’s asset number. They can investigate. In the mean time, try using a different machine if there is one free. If the issue is with the IDE or the workshop content, ask the person running the session, to make sure its not a configuration issue, or something with the workshop script which needs clarifying.
I can’t login to my account/my password doesn’t work
Contact the IT service desk. The telephone number and email are on the login pages of the workshop machines.
Last updated 0001-01-01