diff --git a/tutorials/operatorTutorial/README.md b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c14d7be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+This project is supposed to be a reference to be followed along with
+the tutorial here: http://docs.datatorrent.com/operator_development/,
+discussed here: http://docs.datatorrent.com/operator_development/#code
+
+This project does not have an application and hence will not run.
+The reader can use this project as a starting point to develop further
+operators and applications.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tutorials/operatorTutorial/pom.xml b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/pom.xml
index 3da5c80..64d5743 100644
--- a/tutorials/operatorTutorial/pom.xml
+++ b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/pom.xml
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 
   <properties>
     <!-- change this if you desire to use a different version of Apex Core -->
-    <apex.version>3.4.0</apex.version>
+    <apex.version>3.5.0</apex.version>
     <apex.apppackage.classpath>lib/*.jar</apex.apppackage.classpath>
-    <malhar.version>3.4.0</malhar.version>
+    <malhar.version>3.6.0</malhar.version>
   </properties>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/tutorials/operatorTutorial/src/assemble/appPackage.xml b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/src/assemble/appPackage.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ad071c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tutorials/operatorTutorial/src/assemble/appPackage.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+<assembly xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/assembly/1.1.2"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/assembly/1.1.2 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/assembly-1.1.2.xsd">
+  <id>appPackage</id>
+  <formats>
+    <format>jar</format>
+  </formats>
+  <includeBaseDirectory>false</includeBaseDirectory>
+  <fileSets>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/target/</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/app</outputDirectory>
+      <includes>
+        <include>${project.artifactId}-${project.version}.jar</include>
+      </includes>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/target/deps</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/lib</outputDirectory>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/src/site/conf</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/conf</outputDirectory>
+      <includes>
+        <include>*.xml</include>
+      </includes>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources/META-INF</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/META-INF</outputDirectory>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources/app</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/app</outputDirectory>
+    </fileSet>
+    <fileSet>
+      <directory>${basedir}/src/main/resources/resources</directory>
+      <outputDirectory>/resources</outputDirectory>
+    </fileSet>
+  </fileSets>
+
+</assembly>
+