Software for CompSci 101 Spring 2015

Note: These instructions are from Fall 2014 so may be slightly differently.

In order to write programs, you will need some other programs. These allow you to edit your program, translate it into a simpler representation that your computer can understand, and run it. These initial steps may seem a little overwhelming, but they only need to be done once to get things started and working together. This process make take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

You will need to install five things in this order: Java, Eclipse, Python, PyDev and Ambient.

This video of Prof. Astrachan installing PyDev and Ambient in Fall 2014

When installing these programs, unless otherwise noted, we suggest you simply follow the default installation options.

  1. install Java (so you can run the Eclipse program)
  2. install Eclipse (an environment for writing and running your software programs)
  3. install Python (so you can run the programs you write)
  4. install the PyDev plugin from within Eclipse (so you can use Eclipse to develop your Python programs)
  5. connect Eclipse to your version of Python (so you can run Python programs within Eclipse)
  6. install the Ambient plugin from within Eclipse (so you can download and submit files for class)