AMICS (Auto Marker for ICS)

A lightweight auto-grading platform for high school computer science courses. Students submit Python code and receive immediate feedback from pytest-based test suites.

Features

• Immediate Feedback – Students see pytest results instantly with highlighted key information
• Secure Execution – Student code runs in isolated Docker containers
• Unlimited Attempts – Encourages mastery-based learning through iteration
• Simple Stack – Built with Go, PostgreSQL, and vanilla JavaScript

Architecture

AMICS uses a database-as-queue pattern to process student submissions asynchronously:

1. Student submits code via web interface
2. Submission saved to PostgreSQL with grading status
3. Background worker polls database for grading submissions
4. Worker spawns isolated Docker container to run pytest
5. Results parsed and saved, student sees formatted output

Tech Stack

• Backend: Go (standard library + PostgreSQL driver)
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Frontend: HTML templates, CSS, vanilla JavaScript
• Testing: Docker + Python 3.11 + pytest

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21+
• PostgreSQL 14+
• Docker

Quick Start

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/philip-h/amics.git
cd amics

# Install dependencies
go mod tidy

# Start server (includes background worker)
go run cmd/amics/main.go

Visit http://localhost:8000 to access the platform.

Status

Beta – Currently in use for ICS courses. Not intended for public deployment.

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Notes:

• This is a personal project for educational use