CS074: The Digital World

Lab 0


Assigned: Wednesday, January 14
Due: Immediately!

This is not a typical lab assignment: it won't be graded, and there is nothing to hand in. But you need to do it prompty and alert me if there are any difficulties.

Software Installation and Computer Configuration



The software we use in this course was all written in the Java programming language, so that it can run without modification on both Windows and Macintosh computers.  You will need to have software that lets you run Java programs. (Later in the course you will also write some programs, but in a different language.)

If you have a Mac, your computer already has such software, although you may need to upgrade it to a more recent version.(If you have a Mac running MacOS 9 instead of OS X, you may have a problem---come see me about this.)  If you have Windows, there's a good chance that you already have the software for running Java programs.

Step 1: Set up your course folder, and change how file names are displayed


Make a folder called CS0, or CS074, where you will keep all your work for this course. It's ok if you put this inside a larger folder that contains work for other classes, and if you make subfolders inside of this new one to organize your work.  However, you should not have any spaces in the names of these folders (for instance, don't call a folder "Lab assignments"; use "LabAssignments" or Lab_assignments" instead).

If you are running Windows, open your CS0 folder.  From the "Tools" menu, select "Folder Options" and then the "View Tab".  Look for the box that says "Hide Extensions for known File Types".  If there is a check in the box, click in it to remove the check, and then click the button that says "Apply to All Folders".  The default setting on many Windows machines is to hide the three- or four-letter suffix (".exe",".zip",".txt".".html",etc.) attached to file names.  It is very important in this class that you be able to see these extensions.

The Mac also gives some control over display of filename suffixes .  Under "Finder" select "Preferences" and then the "Advanced" tab and check the box that says "Show All File Extensions".

Step 2:  Make sure the correct version of Java is installed

Macintosh

Go to the Terminal program (in Applications/Utilities), start it up, and type

java -version

You will see something like this:

java version "1.5.0_06"
Java (TM) 2 Runtime Environment blah blah blah

As long as those first two digits are 1.5 or 1.6,  you don't have to do anything.  Go to Step 3.

If those first two digits are something else (like 1.4) you need to upgrade to a newer version.  Select Software Update from the Apple Menu.  You will be offered a number of new software packages to install, which should include Java software.  (If not, let me know!) Follow the directions for installing these packages, and go on to Step 3. 

Windows

Select "Command Prompt" from Start->Programs->Accessories,  and type

java -version

If the Java version is identified as 1.5 or 1.6, you're all set.

If you see a different version of Java, or get some message saying that the command was understood, you can download the latest version of Java by going to the website http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Step 3: Download the Text Editor


Download the file TextEditor.jar to your course folder.  When the download is finished, double-click on the icon.  You should see the Text Editor window appear.  If you don't, come see me (and, if you have a laptop, bring your computer with you). 

WARNING:  You will have to download several of these .jar files during the semester.  Several of my students running Windows last year noticed that their browsers by default saved these files with the suffix .zip instead of .jar.  If this happens to you, you need to change the name of the file from TextEditor.zip to TextEditor.jar.