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Evaluate The Computer Science Lab CD-ROM

The Computer Science Lab CD-ROM contains the following programs:

• The RPN Calculator which includes an integrated development environment (IDE) with a debugger, 26 example programs, and 33,000 words of on-line Help documentation with 34 illustrations. Besides being programmable, this is also a graphing calculator able to generate arbitrary overlaid x/y plots with fully customizable formatting.

• The 8051 Microprocessor Simulator which includes an integrated development environment (IDE) with a debugger, 24 example programs, and 54,000 words of on-line Help documentation with 36 illustrations. The 8051 programs you write will interface with an electronic scrolling signboard, a robotic mouse in a maze, and an audio peak detector.

• The C++ Integrated Development Environment which allows you to write, compile, and debug both console-mode and true Windows programs using either the C or C++ language. This program is accompanied by 93,000 words of on-line Help documentation, 42 illustrations, and 42 fully-explained example programs. One of the example programs is a Breakout style of video game. Another demonstrates how to componentize the code illustrated in the famous Petzold book.

• The GraphIt program which constructs arbitrary two-dimensional plots with full formatting flexibility and the ability to construct .GIF and .BMP files of your plots (these are handy for incorporating into other documents).

• The Illustrated History of Computers, which is not a program but rather a reference paper with 54 photos.

This web site includes numerous screen shots that allow you to see my software in action. But why not download a trial version of my programmable RPN calculator (the first course in the curriculum) and try it yourself? You'll see that you will be creating and running programs before you have even invested one hour with the provided textbook. The next course in the sequence, the 8051 microprocessor simulator which teaches assembly language, is also available as a trial version.

Each course has its own textbook. These three textbooks are e-books (electronic books) which you can view on your computer or print to paper. These textbooks show the depth and breadth of the curriculum and include many additional screen-shots of the software in action. I allow you to download the textbooks for all three courses in the curriculum so you can make sure my approach covers your goals and that you will be successful with my style of teaching.

When you download an e-book you will receive a .CHM (compiled HTML Help) file which is Microsoft's standard methodology for on-line help. Unfortunately .CHM files can harbor viruses (these don't, of course) and so Microsoft decided to impose new rules on .CHM files starting with Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP. If you are running a version of Windows older than Windows XP SP2 you can ignore the rest of this paragraph: my .CHM files will display for you without problems. But if you are running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista or Windows 7 then it is important that you elect to Save the .CHM file to your hard drive rather than Opening it directly from my web site. This is important because once the .CHM file is on your computer you need to right-click on its filename and then select Properties. At the bottom of the Properties page you may notice a Security warning that says "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer". Click on the Unblock button and you will then be able to read the complete textbook. You will know that Windows is blocking the .CHM file if when you try to view it every page has been replaced with the message "The page you are looking for is currently unavailable". Note that this extra step is necessary for all .CHM files, even those that arrive inside .ZIP files. Hence you will have to perform this step if you elect to download the trial versions of my RPNCalc or 8051 programs because then you will be receiving .ZIP files that hold a .CHM file.

Here are the hyperlinks that allow you to download the free evaluation materials. The .CHM files range from 0.2 to 3.3 Mbytes, and hence will require from 1 to 9 minutes to download over a 56K bit/sec modem.

RPN Calculator Trial Version	a .ZIP file holding the executable, textbook, and example programs for the RPN calculator
RPN Calculator Documentation	a .CHM file holding the textbook for the RPN calculator program (this textbook is already included in the above .ZIP file)
8051 Microprocessor Trial Version	a .ZIP file holding the executable, textbook, and example programs for the 8051 microprocessor simulator
8051 Microprocessor Documentation	a .CHM file holding the textbook for the 8051 program
C++ Documentation	a .CHM file holding the textbook for the C++ program
GraphIt Documentation	a .CHM file holding the textbook for the GraphIt program
Illustrated History of Computers	a standard HTML file

All of the programs are compatible with all of the recent Microsoft operating systems (specifically: Windows 7/Vista/XP and even Windows 98 & ME). You get all of the program creation tools that you need to write, debug, and run programs written in the 3 languages. Click here to see the dialog boxes you will encounter while installing on the Windows 7 operating system.

The Computer Science Lab CD-ROM is an auto-run CD, meaning that the installation program will be automatically activated when you insert this CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive. This installation program copies the software that you select to a location on your drive that you select. It also prepares Start Menu shortcuts for the newly installed programs. This installation program can also be used to uninstall the software. A screen capture of the installation program is shown below:

If you still have questions, perhaps they are answered in my FAQ: