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Ask HN: Is it bad to put homework code on github?

3 points by shadesandcolour ↗ HN
I've been getting into the habit of using git to manage my homework. Naturally Id like to put it on github so I can access it when I'm away from my computer. Could my teacher potentially see this as academic misconduct because I'm posting my code? Obviously you won't know for sure but what do you think?

11 comments

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thetabyte
Well, the best thing to do is the same as always: talk to your teacher about it! Most of them want to help you! Make it clear that you'll take it down if it's a problem, and explain to him or her why you do it. It's the safest route.

If he doesn't like it, consider paying for Github if you can. Then you can have private repositories, and you'll be supporting a great service!

caw
There's a free student plan or something for Github that you can have private repositories. Or, bitbucket.

Posting code is varies highly by teaching. I think most of my professors would have considered it outright cheating. Their interpretation of the collaboration policies was that unless it was a group assignment, you could help each other debug but you couldn't outright copy the code. Who knows who really followed that, but so long as it's in the gray area they can report you for academic misconduct. Even if it was fine for the current semester, some professors reuse homework problems. Clear it with them first.

shadesandcolour
That's great, Github really should advertise that educational section more. I've sent in the request for that plan.
zeppelin_7
Or you could settle for Bitbucket? They allow private repos for free. This would work perfectly for such a thing.
michaeldwp
I'm guessing you're using a public (open source) report on Github? Maybe consider posting it on Bitbucket.org in a free, private repo.
shadesandcolour
Yeah I thought about bitbucket, any pros-cons with them?
michaeldwp
I don't think so. I haven't used them much yet, but everything I recall hearing about them has been good so far.
garblegarble
I use bitbucket for my private personal projects (and github for my public projects and for work). It's fine - the interface is very much like github. I mostly just push and pull so it doesn't make a great deal of difference
shadesandcolour
Yeah I had a feeling that would happen. Better to know now than to know later. Bitbucket or private github it is