CSE 333: Systems Programming

Environment Setup

All CSE 333 assignments and exercises are built, tested, and graded on the current CSE Lab environment. Below we list some ways for you to access that environment.

What We Use

The following tools make up the CSE 333 development environment. Both recommended options below already have everything installed and configured for you, so there is nothing for you to install.

Tool What it is
gcc 11 The C compiler we use to build and grade your C code.
g++ 11 The C++ compiler we use to build and grade your C++ code.
Boost C++ libraries A widely used collection of C++ libraries that some assignments link against.
gdb The GNU debugger for stepping through your program and inspecting its state when something goes wrong.
valgrind A tool that detects memory errors and leaks in your C/C++ programs.
git The version-control tool you use to track your work and push it to your CSE GitLab repository.
VS Code A popular editor that can connect remotely to the CSE machines so you can edit your code with a graphical interface.

How to Get an Environment

Pick one of the two recommended options below. Both have already been set up by the course staff with everything listed above, so you can start working right away.

Option #1: SSH into attu Recommended

attu is the Allen School's shared Linux cycle server. You connect to it remotely from your own laptop or desktop over SSH, and everything you need is already installed there. This is the simplest way to get started because there is nothing to download or configure on your own machine.

  1. Open a terminal on your own machine and connect with: 
    $ ssh <netid>@attu.cs.washington.edu
    (Substitute your UW NetID for <netid>.)
  2. Enter your UW password when prompted. You are now working on a CSE Linux machine with the full CSE 333 environment.
  3. To edit your code with a graphical interface, you can connect VS Code to attu over SSH. See the VS Code on attu guide and the SCP file-transfer guide on the resources page. The VS Code guide also covers stepping through your code with the debugger.

Option #2: Develop on a CSE lab machine Recommended

The Allen School maintains undergraduate workstation labs full of Linux PCs that run the same environment as attu. If you prefer to sit down at a physical machine on campus, you can log in to any of these workstations and everything you need is already installed.

  1. Go to one of the undergraduate workstation labs and log in to a Linux PC with your CSE or UW account.
  2. Open a terminal and start working. The compilers, debugger, and other tools above are ready to use.

Option #3: CSE Home VM

If you want to work offline on your own x86-64 machine, you can install VMware and download the current UW CSE home virtual machine image, which comes preconfigured with the same tools. Be sure to use the version of the VM for this quarter so that your environment matches the machines we grade on; if you have an older VM from a previous quarter, you must replace it.