Chapter 8 Exercises

  1. Git basics and GitHub setup Learn the Git basics and set up an account on GitHub if you do not already have one. Practice the tips on Git in the notes. By going through the following tasks, ensure your repo has at least 10 commits, each with an informative message. Regularly check the status of your repo using git status. The specific tasks are:

    1. Clone the repo to an appropriate folder on your computer.
    2. On your computer, add a file called learningGit.md to your repo; use Markdown syntax to fill it with the text of the documentation on Git/GitHub resources.
    3. Play with git commit (save): add some a new section Personal Notes to describe your own learning experience. Experiment with commits such as: add new lines; introduce some typos; correct the typo; etc. Make sure you have informative commit messages.
    4. Use git diff to view the difference between two commits and appreciate the linewidth recommendation.
    5. “Push” your changes to GitHub.
    6. Make a change to your file on GitHub and commit.
    7. “Pull” the changes to your local computer.
    8. Create a “branch” (version), make a change, commit the change.
    9. Open a “pull request” (propose changes to the main branch)
    10. “Merge” your branch to the main branch.

    Git will keep track of all your changes. Use the command line to do the exercises. My grader will check the commit history.

  2. Type setting with LaTeX/BibTeX Follow the template linked to in Chapter 2 my stat-writing notes to create a nice-looking pdf manuscript. The manuscript should contain all components of an academic paper:

    1. title, authors, affiliations, abstract, sections, appendix, and references;
    2. refer to the sections in a roadmap paragraph at the end of Introduction;
    3. cite at least two references, one with textual citation and one parenthetical citation;
    4. include at least one table and referene to it;
    5. include at least one figure and reference to it;
    6. include the code that generated the figures/tables in the code folder;
    7. include at least two in-line math expressions;
    8. include at least two in-display equations, and at least one of them should be numbered, and reference to the numbered ones;
    9. follow the specific tips in the stat-writing notes;
    10. follow the instructions on using Git to keep your repo clean;
    11. put the generated pdf file in a release.