CECS-174: Getting Started in the CECS Labs

This guide assume that you have successfully created a CECS account and are able to login to a CECS Windows Lab Computer. Below are the steps you need to take to configure a programming environment in the lab computers.

Steps to be done only once

The authors of the book have provided Java source code and media files to learn problem solving and programming concepts. You need to have your own copy of these resources so that you may change them as you learn new concepts. These steps need to be done only once.

  1. Create a CECS174 folder in your account for your work pertaining to this class. You can follow this process to create folders for your other CECS classes.
  2. Copy bookClasses and mediasources to your CECS174 folder. These are resources to be used in all CECS 174 sections.

Steps to be done each time you login to a lab computer

The CECS Lab computers are configured in such a way that your settings are wiped clean at night. So, when you log out from a computer, do not expect any files or settings you saved in the local drive to be there for very long. This also means that whenever you use an application, all settings that you've modified are reset to the default settings, so you will need to reconfigure the application to your liking each time you login.

You must use the disk space in the network drive that has been assigned to you as part of your CECS account.

Here are the minimum steps that you need to take to do your work for CECS 174:

  1. Copy your CECS174 folder from the network drive to the local drive. This step will create a local copy of your CECS174 folder so that you may work with it in the local drive.
  2. Configure the Preferences in DrJava. Since preferences are reset every time, you need to specify them each time you login and stat DrJava for the first time.
  3. Copy your CECS174 folder from the local drive to the network drive. Once you're done working with your CECS174 folder and before you logout from the computer, you need to save your CECS174 folder in the network drive to make your changes permanent.

Programming Resources