Software
- We will work in the
CS Department
Elements Lab.
- We will use Java, specifically Java2. CodeWarrior installs Java if
you don't have it already - be sure to specify Java 1.3 or
later in the installation proceedure. If you have not installed
CodeWarrior, and you want to use BlueJ (see below), you can download
Java 2 from Sun.
- Java comes with command-line tools to compile and run the
programs. Many people prefer to use an Integrated Development
Environment (IDE), a menu-based tool, especially for debugging.
If you want help debugging from us in the lab, you should be able to
show us your project using either
BlueJ
or CodeWarrior, which are the IDEs installed there.
I assume you are familiar with a development environment from your
previous Elements of Computer Science courses. BlueJ is free and very
easy to use; you can download it to your home machine. CodeWarrior
has many more features but it is not free; be sure to get the 99$
academic version!! If you do not already know and love CodeWarrior I
recommend BlueJ for this class.
- All the
code from Knudson's
Java 2D Graphics book
is available as a .zip file.
- For Java 3D, you can get
examples from the Java 3D API Jump Start book
and
examples from Selman's Java 3D Programming book.
- BMRT
(the Blue Moon Rendering Tools) is a free ray tracer once distributed by a
fine company called Exluna, which is compatible with the
Renderman 3D graphics
specification developed at Pixar. It is installed in the lab, if
you want it on your home Windows machine you can get it
here.
Instuctions for using BMRT at UT.
- We will use a free utility called
IrfanView to look at
and convert image files. You can download this at home.
Don Fussell