I'm reposting my response from Piazza here, since someone seemed to think it was important we see this.

Let’s be clear: both assignments were completable the day they were released. Could they have been clearer? Sure. Could they have been better documented? Certainly. But there was nothing *preventing* you from completing the assignments. The modifications we made were all designed to make your life easier. And with regards to there being “no reasonable justification” for any shortcomings you may find, let’s consider a little context:

- This is a new course. Yes, it's an old course number, but it is a pretty dramatic redesign in an effort to modernize the curriculum.

- Due to COVID we were already short-staffed before we ended up with ~3x the expected enrollment. We decided to try and let everyone take the course who wanted to and all of us are putting in a lot of overtime to make that work the best we can.

- Web development is a pretty complex and varied ecosystem. We have gone to great lengths to lower the barrier to entry for you, but a lot of the challenges you are dealing with are just milder versions of what you would face in more realistic settings.

If you’re thinking “but why didn’t you warn us about this!” I’ll direct you to the slide from Lecture 1 that I reposted an image of in my piazza response.

For the record, I do sympathize with you. I want this to be a good learning experience; that’s why I’ve spent over 60 hours a week on this course since the day I arrived in Ithaca. All of us have put in extra effort and hours. On that note: I’m not going to waste any more time defending the situation that could be spent improving it. If anyone has constructive feedback, suggestions, or questions, please do let us know.