The assignment is to develop a website similar to www.reddit.com, with features such as submitting links, posting comments, upvoting or downvoting links, and displaying all comments about a link. The minimum set of features required includes a page showing a single list of submitted links, a page for viewing and submitting new comments, and a means of voting on links. Additional features that can earn extra marks include pagination, sorting by votes or date submitted, and threading of comments.