Fall 2003/Spring 2004: CS333 - Problem Solving and Object Oriented Programming in
C++
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1 Technical Requirements - Hardware
Because this course is hosted on the internet, you will need to make sure that you have
access to the appropriate computing equipment and software to participate in the course activities.
Hardware requirements are pretty straightforward.
Required
Almost any Pentium-class Windows 98, or NT/2000/ME/XP machine should do. Equivalently powered
Unix or Macintosh machines are also acceptable, though these may introduce other limitations regarding software (below).
Whatever the machine, a good Internet connection is essential. You should be able to
connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) at 28,800k or better.
2 Technical Requirements - Software
Software requirements are more specific:
Required:
Web browser: Acceptable are Internet Explorer 4.0 or better, and Netscape
Navigator 4.05 or better.
Note that both of these are available for free downloading on Windows (and
Macintosh)
platforms. Netscape is available for free on Unix
platforms. At the risk of starting a religious war, I will recommend that, all else being
equal, you go for Internet Explorer, because this also gives you easy access to NetMeeting, described below.
e-mail: Any MIME-compliant e-mail program should do.
C++ compiler: This gets tricky. An international standard for the language has been adopted
only recently Not all compilers have been upgraded to this new standard. Consequently, code accepted by one C++ compiler may fail to compile in another.
The "official" compiler for this course is the Free Software Foundation's g++
(also known as gcc or GNU CC), This is the compiler that the instructor and/or grader will use in evaluating and grading
projects. If you have access to other compilers, you may use them. Most students
will use the visual C++ compiler that is distributed with the book. I find that
using multiple compilers not only helps ensure portable code (code that can run
on multiple platforms) but also helps to uncover bugs and deviations from the
standard.
The g++ compiler can be downloaded for free from a variety sources. In particular, Windows
95/98/NT/2k/XP users should look here and may want to consult my notes on its installation and use.