Resources for CSC 173

Computers and Remote Access

The main computers for the course will be the machines of the Undergraduate CS Labs. These machines are currently high-end Dell PCs running Red Hat Linux v7.1 (kernel 2.4.3). Sign-up for accounts will occur the first day of class. Click here if you were absent.

Due to heavy enrollments and expected demand for lab seats, all students in CSC 173 are requested to use remote access to the maximum possible extent. A limited number of personal workstations are available in CSB 727 (the CSUG "Inner Lab").

Remote X clients (WebTermX for PCs and eXodus for Macs) are now available on all public machines on campus, and are available free of charge to all ResNet users ( CLICK HERE for documentation, serial numbers, and software downloads). Watch the newsgroup (see below) for further details.

The cycle servers for remote access are beefy multiprocessors named cycle1.csug.rochester.edu, cycle2.csug.rochester.edu, and cycle3.csug.rochester.edu. Please make connections to these, not to the machines with displays.

If you are relatively new to Unix, you should read through the introductory material on another page, and plan to attend one of the optional lab sessions during the second week of class.

Students with accounts in the CS research labs may elect to work there instead, but course software will be maintained only on the CSUG network.

Mail and News

All students should subscribe to the electronic newsgroup ur.cs173, through which class announcements will be made. E-mail questions may be directed to the newsgroup, or directly to the instructor or one of the TAs. Any answer deemed useful to the class as a whole will be posted (with identifying information removed) in the newsgroup.

If you aren't familiar with newsgroups and how to subscribe, the easiest way to get at them is through your favorite web browser. Look for the Newsgroups menu item in Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. You will need to be on the UR network (at a machine in the rochester.edu domain) in order to see ur.cs173.

Web Pointers

The Association of C and C++ Users maintains a very useful on-line compendium of reviews for books on C, Unix, and related topics.

C and C++ tutorials

Textbook

The textbook for the course is the same one we used last year. Copies will be on reserve at Carlson library.
Foundations of Computer Science (C Edition),
by Alfred V. Aho and Jeffrey D. Ullman,
Computer Science Press, 1995.
We'll be using only the second half of the book. The first half was used last spring in 172. It's a very good resource, and well worth owning. If you choose not to buy it, expect to spend a lot of time in the library.

Also on reserve at Carlson:


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Last Change: 29 August 2001 / Michael Scott's email address