My point is that many tests are checking to see if you implemented something exactly the way the staff imagined it, even if the specification wasn't given to students in the assignment description. In the real world, it probably wouldn't matter that your board has one whitespace after the border. You have more freedom in implementation.

Even if this is somehow an accurate representation of the real world, Hilfinger's approach seems very callous. 61B is the first or second programming class students take at Cal, many people in the course learned to code just months ago. There's no need to shove people off in the deep end under the guise of "the real world". Students need guidance and support in the educational process-- that's what makes them students, and that's how people learn.