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 95, 98, or NT machine should do. Equivalently powered
Unix or Macintosh machines are also acceptable, though
these may imtroduce other limitations regarding software (below).
The machine should be equipped with sound card and speakers.
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. Perhaps more importantly, your ISP must be able to actually feed you information
at that rate during the time periods when you will be logged in.
It's not unheard of for people to invest in very fast modems only to find that their net
access stays the same - because their ISP was too overloaded to
serve up the information as fast as their modem could accept it. Unfortunately, this is
not an easy thing for individuals to determine (and few ISP's will
have the candor to admit when they have too many customers for their own good).
Optional:
microphone (highly recommended)
digital video camera
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.
Java: A Java engine is included in your web browser.
You may need to activate it from your browser's "settings" or
"preferences" area. Occasionally, an otherwise correctly installed browser will
not
be able to run Java programs (applets). Click here to test the Java engine in your current
browser. If a window appears, complete with menus,
buttons, etc., then all is well.
RealMedia: Your browser should have a RealMedia player installed so that you can receive
the audio/video content of this course. You need
version 5 or better (including the latest version, called "G2"). Click here to
test. RealMedia players can be downloaded for free from Real.
e-mail: Any MIME-compliant e-mail program should do.
telnet, ftp: Any program should do.
C++ compiler: This gets tricky. C++ is a language that is still undergoing rapid change.
An international standard for the language has been adopted
only within the last year, and, despite what they may say in their advertising campaigns,
no compiler yet fully implements that standard. Instead,
different compiler vendors are implementing the portions of the standard that they can get
to market most quickly, leaving the rest till later.
Consequently, code accepted by one C++ compiler may fail to compile in another.
The "official" compiler for this course is the Free Software Founda- tion's g++
(also known as gcc or GNU CC), version egcs-1.1.2 or higher.1
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, but you are responsible for making sure that their projects can be compiled by the
instructor and/or the course's grader using the official
compiler.
You may want to develop your programs on the most convenient compiler and then port it
over to the official environment. Please don't
underestimate the amount of time that may be involved in coping with subtle differences
among compilers.
The g++ compiler can be downloaded for free from a variety sources. In particular, Windows
95/98/NT users should look here and may want to
consult my notes on its installation and use.
Optional:
Microsoft Netmeeting: This program, available for free from Microsoft, allows students to
participate in internet conferences via audio and/or
video or typed "chat", and sharing a common whiteboard for freehand drawing and
even sharing views or control of most Windows-based tools.
Students can use Netmeeting to meet with the instructor during "office hours".
If you plan on using Netmeeting, you will almost certainly want to
make sure you have a microphone on your system. A digital video camera would also be nice,
but is certainly not required (and might overtax your
internet connection).