CS 5 Software Install Page       (Click here for each problem's Zip File)       (Take CS 5 anywhere)

Windows

1. Check for Java itself
   
   To see if you have the Java SDK (software development kit) already on your computer, go to your C: drive and look for a folder named C:\j2sdk1.4.2_05 or some similar name. It will always be at the top level in C:, though it may have a different version number. If you don't have at least version 1.4.something, definitely download the newest one from here:
   
   j2sdk-1_4_2_05-windows-i586-p.exe
   
   This is a large file... . Once you've copied it to your machine, double-click on it and then follow the installer instructions to unpack it.
   
   
2. It's actually not necessary to install JCreator to write Java programs (see the Linux instructions below for command-line techniques), but it can make programming much easier -- and it's what we'll be using in the PC labs. If you'd like to use JCreator (PC only) it's freely available:
   
   jcrea300.zip
   
   Download and unzip the above file. If you don't have a program that will unzip things, try filzip, a very nice, free zip program.
   When unzipped, you will see a file named setup.exe. Double-click Setup.exe and follow the installation instructions in order to set up JCreator.
   
   Either choose to run JCreator at the end of the installation process or double-click the desktop icon to run it for the first time. Three setup screens will appear:
   
   
   • On the first screen, accept the file mappings it suggests.
   • On the second screen, it should find your java installation. If it does not, click the browse button to show it where it is. Again, it is in something like C:\j2sdk1.4.2_05.
   • On the third screen, just click finish. (You can install the Java library documentation if you like, but we won't be using it in CS 5.)
   
   After setup, you should see the main JCreator screen with no files open. You will probably want to exit JCreator for now (until you download the CS 5 software, which is the next step...)
   
   
   
3. Download and run the CS 5 assignment software
   
   Depending on the problem you want to work on, there are different sets of files with which to start. Click on the link below and download the problem you would like to work on. Note! if you have already started a problem, you can work on it from your networked (H:) charlie home directory.
   
   Page with CS 5 assignment software
   
   If you're at another college, at home in Maine, or vacationing in Vienna, you can still work on any problem whose code you have submitted with the CS 5 submit system. Click on the link below for the instructions:
   
   Working on CS 5 when vacationing in Vienna
   
   

Mac OS X

1. OS X comes with java installed.
   
   You don't need to do this, but you can check for java explicitly by opening a terminal window, a command-line application in Applications -- Utilities -- Terminal. At the prompt, type

       /usr/bin/java -version
     

   and you'll see something like

       java version "1.4.2_05"
     

   Older versions or newer versions are OK.
   
   
2. OS X comes with Project Builder or XCode
   
   Project builder was the name of the Mac programming environment before version 10.3 of the operating system. XCode is the name of the programming environment since version 10.3. They're quite similar.
   
   Check to see if you have Project Builder or XCode by going to the LOOK THIS UP!!.
   
   If you do not have this development directory, or you do have either XCode or Project Builder, you can install one of them from your OS X cds. (In fact, you are likely to have a CD that is labeled development tools.) Simply insert the CD and follow the installation instructions. If you don't have your OS X cds and have no way to get either XCode or Project Builder, you can work from the Mac lab in Parsons, or use the command-line instructions below.
   
   
3. Download and run the CS 5 assignment software
   
   Depending on the problem you want to work on, there are different sets of files with which to start. Click on the link below and download the problem you would like to work on. Note! if you have already started a problem, you can work on it from your networked (HMC_2008) charlie home directory.
   
   Page with CS 5 assignment software
   
   If you're at another college, at home in Maine, or vacationing in Vienna, you can still work on any problem whose code you have submitted with the CS 5 submit system. Click on the link below for the instructions:
   
   Working on CS 5 when vacationing in Vienna
   
   

Running from the command line

(Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, ...)

1. You can compile and run programs from the command prompt (rather than JCreator or XCode or Project Builder or any other development environment) under Windows or Mac OS X or Linux, as long as you're comfortable with command-line tools and are happy to write your code in your own favorite text editor, e.g. notepad is the simplest, textpad has lots of nice syntax-highlighting features for windows. The Mac has a text editor built-in (but you have to be able to save to raw text, not rich text format. On linux, you may be using Emacs or vim.
   
   
2. Once you have java installed (it's already there under MacOS X; see above for Windows instructions, otherwise track down a free java implementation for your OS of choice), you can download and unzip one of the CS 5 Zip Files from the link below.
   
   Page with CS 5 assignment software
   
   If you're at another college, at home in Maine, or vacationing in Vienna, you can still work on any problem whose code you have submitted with the CS 5 submit system. Click on the link below for the instructions:
   
   Working on CS 5 when vacationing in Vienna
   
   
3. Now, open a command window to the folder you've just downloaded and unzipped and go into the source_code subfolder. Within that directory, type

       javac -classpath . *.java
     

   which says to compile all of the java files using the current directory (.) as the "classpath," that is, the place to look for code. If there are compiler errors, they will be printed out and you can fix them, save your file, and try again.
   
   If your system complains about not being able to find the javac compiler, either you don't have it or it's not in your system's path (in which it looks for executables). Simply type the full path name (or add it to your path), e.g.

       /usr/bin/javac -classpath . *.java               % on a Mac
       C:\j2sdk1.4.2_05\bin\javac -classpath . *.java   % on a Windows PC
       /whateverpath/javac -classpath . *.java          % on a linux box
     

   
   
   When you have fixed any and all compiler errors, you can run the program with

       java CS5App
     

   with the same warnings about path names... the path to javac and java will almost certainly be the same.