We will be using the Math Sciences Computing Center (MSCC) PC lab for the class this quarter using Microsoft Visual C++ (MSVC++) as our C++ compiler and development environment. If you have your own computer and C++ compiler, you are welcome to do the assignments on your own personal computer. If you use an unusual compiler (e.g., something other than MSVC++ or gcc), you should be sure to use only ANSI C++ in your programs so that we can effortlessly run and test your program. If you're in doubt about a particular language feature, check with the course staff.
Download a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader to view PDF files (non-windows platforms also supported).
Download a copy of Ghostscript to view postscript files. The "Obtaining Ghostscript x.xx" link contains a self-extracting executable for Windows machines that installs ghostscript and gsview on your system. Ghostscript is the engine that knows how to display postscript; gsview is a user-friendly application build on top of it that allows you to view postscript files.
Although most of you will probably use PCs with MSVC++ for programming assignments, you are also welcome to use UNIX machines such as those available in the MSCC UNIX lab or a personal linux machine. See the course staff if you would like to obtain an account on the MSCC UNIX machines. The following is a set of introductory quick tip pages about UNIX and the UNIX tools that you are likely to use. These documents have been compiled over the years by various TAs and are neither complete nor guaranteed to be accurate. If you find errors or serious omissions in the documents, please let us know. If you have questions about UNIX or any of the tools, don't hesitate to ask us or the MSCC staff. I personally prefer UNIX over MSVC++, and am more than happy to help you with any UNIX problems you run into.