Graded on what the app does, not what the code says

The requirements list runs fifteen checks against your app while it is running. Does the contact form reject a malformed email? Do the projects come from your API instead of being hardcoded? Each check passes or fails on real behaviour.

The workspace works on a phone too, with Guide, Code and Preview as tabs instead of three squeezed columns.

Web App Development lectures have captions and chapters

All 27 Web App Development lectures now have closed captions, and 14 have chapter markers so you can jump straight to the part you need. The unit is also labelled properly in the module rail instead of showing bare unit numbers.

Debug from where your code is

The Debug button used to live in the test results panel while its Stop button lived in the workspace bar. Both now sit together next to the editor, so starting and stopping a session happens in one place.

Failed tests show the problem where you are already looking

When a test fails, the explanation now appears inside the actual output box, instead of as loose text underneath it.

System design: the word limit tells you the truth

The word limit on a design stage was counting the prompt's own words against yours, and nothing mentioned that the limit was shared across the stage until you had already gone over. It now counts only your words and says up front how it works. Drafts also survive moving between stages.

CMSC131 exercises: predict first, then run

The CMSC131 supplemental exercises ask you to predict what the code will do before Run unlocks, then show your prediction next to what actually happened. Guessing wrong is the useful part.

Smaller things you will notice

• Bookmark any activity to come back to it later, and keep notes on each lecture.
• Your project code comes back even on a browser that has no saved local draft.
• An expired session signs you back in quietly instead of claiming you are offline.
• The Show/Hide toggle is back in the test panel header.
• Lecture fullscreen no longer gets cut off.
• Dismissing the summer academy banner keeps it dismissed.
• Java runs more reliably, including a fix for methods that take arrays.

The why comes before the code

Solution write-ups now open with the reasoning: what the problem is really asking, the idea behind the approach, where it breaks. The code follows underneath, so reading the explanation first turns the code into something you could have written instead of something to memorize.

Single problems get video explanations too, with the time and space complexity called out next to them.

Hints arrive in order, when you are actually stuck

Hints sit at the foot of the problem you are already reading rather than behind a separate tab, and they unlock in order: the framing hint first, the approach next, the specifics last. You cannot skip to the answer by accident.

You can see which hidden tests failed

Submitting used to give you a number and nothing else. Now every hidden test is listed by name with its own result, so a failure tells you which behaviour broke. The test contents stay hidden. Only the names and the verdicts show.

A scratchpad that formats itself, and a clean reset

The scratchpad next to every problem is a real notes page now. Headings, lists and bold render as you type, so your plan reads like a plan instead of a wall of text.

And when an attempt goes sideways, the editor has a Reset button that takes you back to the starter code. It asks you to confirm first, because the code you wrote is discarded.

Readings look like something you would want to read

Every reading and problem statement went through a typographic pass. Code blocks, tables, callouts and diagrams have a consistent look, scenario framing gets its own tinted card, and each reading opens with the goal it is meant to get you to.

Project instructions render the same way, including the ones written per language, so a Java project reads as a Java project.

A curriculum you can navigate

The curriculum page was rebuilt around units. Lectures group under the unit they belong to, each row connects along a rail so you can see where you are in the sequence, and the sidebar rows line up instead of drifting.

• Problems are numbered 1 to N in the rail, so "question 7" means the same thing everywhere.
• The current item no longer gets a distracting highlight ring.
• Modules are ordered by cohort week rather than by when they were created.

Lectures carry their own context

Every lecture page now lists its chapters, so you can jump straight to the section you need. Alongside them sit the instructor, the learning outcomes, and the slides and materials for that session.

Extra Credit, when you want more reps

Finished the week and still want to push? The Extra Credit ladder is a set of harder problems on the same topic, ordered from approachable to genuinely hard. It sits at the end of the unit, it is optional, and it does not count against your completion.

Practice the real thing: timed OA reps

OA practice is a first-class activity now. One clock for the whole set that does not pause, sample cases visible when you Run and the full graded suite hidden until you Submit, and a score that is simply the share of cases you passed.

Afterwards you get a report card: what you scored, where the time went, and which habit cost you the most.

Reflections before and after you solve

Before you start, you say how you plan to approach it. After you solve, you say what actually happened. It takes a few seconds and it is the difference between grinding problems and learning from them.

You can talk through a reflection instead of typing it. Press Dictate and speak, and it stops on its own after a pause.

Longer written reflections now come one question per step, so you answer a single thing at a time instead of staring at a wall of boxes.

Career work, inside the platform

The Resume Workbench is a guided rebuild of your resume: header, experience, projects and skills, each with the rules that actually matter for a new grad software application, and a tailoring pass at the end.

Java errors that read like Java

A Java compile error now gives you a line number and a real reason instead of a wall of harness output with Python vocabulary bleeding through it. The runtime warms up in the background before you hit Run, and a hung program can be stopped instead of forcing a refresh.

Rolling out next

These are built and in the app behind a switch. They are not on for everyone yet, and we will say so here when they are.

A step debugger. Step through your own code line by line with watch expressions, locals and the call stack in the left panel. Pick a frame in the stack and the editor jumps to that file. When a trace fails, the inspector stays open instead of collapsing.

Downloading a module for offline use. Pick a module, choose what to take with you, and lectures, readings, problems and the code runtime come along for the flight.

Installing the platform as an app. A coached walkthrough per browser, ending on the icon on your home screen or in your dock.

C++. A third language lane that compiles and runs entirely in your browser, same as Python and Java.

System design. A staged design assignment on a real canvas: gather requirements, sketch the architecture, and defend the trade-offs, with a word budget shared across the stages.

Java: "harness compilation failed" is resolved

The files your browser needs to run Java were arriving corrupted and then getting cached in that broken state, so once it hit you, it kept hitting you. That's fixed, and every browser has been forced to pull a clean copy. You don't need to clear anything yourself.

• Java warms up in the background before you hit Run, so there's less waiting.
• A hung program can be stopped instead of forcing a refresh.
• Java errors read like Java errors: real line numbers, real reasons, no Python jargon bleeding through.

Test failures say what actually happened

Every error is now classified into one of 21 categories: a typo, an infinite loop, a wrong data type, and so on. Hints are sharper because they know what kind of mistake you made, and failed tests show what your code actually produced instead of an empty panel.

Lecture chapters

Jump straight to the section you need instead of scrubbing for it. Learning outcomes and slides now live on the lecture page too, and all of it works on mobile.

Talk through a reflection instead of typing it

Reflections have a Dictate button now. Press it and talk. Your words land in the box as you speak, and it stops on its own after ten seconds of quiet, so you can think out loud and clean it up after instead of staring at an empty textarea.

Privacy and data handling

Your school can now request an export or deletion of your data, the way FERPA requires. Anything you write has your name and identifying details stripped out before it reaches an AI model.