Boot Camp Setup

This page lists the standard software used in many of our boot camps and links to pages describing how to install this software on various platforms.

Your boot camp organizer will let you know exactly what software you need to install before coming to your boot camp. You should ensure you have the software installed before you arrive at the boot camp. This is so that practicals can proceed smoothly on the day. If you run into any problems installing the software please let your boot camp organizer know as soon as possible.

After following the install instructions you can run through the check-list below to see you have the necessary software installed.

Installation Instructions

Please follow the appropriate operating system-specific installation instructions

then return to this page to check that everything is installed correctly.

Getting a terminal window

Most of the checks below assume you're using a terminal window (also commonly called a command-line shell or terminal emulator). If you don't know what this is or how to get one then please go to our page on getting a terminal window.

Bash shell, the UNIX shell we like to use

At the prompt, enter:

$ whoami

You should be told your user name, e.g.:

mjj

http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html

Make for automating builds

At the prompt, enter

$ make --version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

GNU Make 3.81

http://www.gnu.org/software/make/

A text editor for writing your code

Whatever editor you use is up to you. To see if your favourite is installed try one of the following, or just try and create a text file.

nano:

At the prompt, enter
```
$ nano --version
```

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

GNU nano version 2.0.9 (compiled 14:28:54, Nov 23 2010)

http://www.nano-editor.org/

Notepad (for Cygwin users):

Edit files within your home directory under C:\cygwin\home\user\.

TextEdit (for Mac OSX users):

Edit files within your home directory under /Users/user.

VI:

At the prompt, enter
```
$ vi --version
```

You should be given a version number, e.g.

VIM - Vi IMproved 7.2 (2008 Aug 9, compiled Feb 25 2011 09:33:03)

http://www.vim.org/

Emacs:

At the prompt, enter
```
$ emacs --version
```
You should be given a version number, e.g.
```
GNU Emacs 23.1.1
```
http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

XEmacs:

At the prompt, enter
```
$ xemacs --version
```

You should be given a version number, e.g.

XEmacs 21.5 (beta31) "ginger" [Lucid] (x86_64-redhat-linux, Mule)...

http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

Python for scripting

Any Python 2 version from 2.6 onwards is recommended. We have not yet tried Python 3 so please stick to Python 2.6 or 2.7 versions.

To check that it's installed and what version you have, at the prompt, enter:

$ python --version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

Python 2.6.6

Now, check its behavior:

$ python
>>> print 2+2
4

And, check it has the sqlite3 library if your boot camp is covering relational databases:

> import sqlite3

If all is fine it won't complain.

http://www.python.org/

Python setuptools for installing Python packages

At the prompt, enter:

$ easy_install --version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

distribute 0.6.10

or a warning:

usage: easy_install [options] requirement_or_url ...
or: easy_install --help
error: option --version not recognized

Python nose for running unit tests

At the prompt, enter:

$ nosetests --version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

nosetests version 0.10.4

At the prompt, enter:

$ nosetests

You should be given a test report, e.g.:

........
Ran 0 tests in 0.003s
OK

BitBucket for using remote version control repositories

For version control practicals, we use BitBucket to enable repositories to be used remotely and to be shared. To get a BitBucket account for version control practicals, just sign up for free at https://bitbucket.org/.

Mercurial for distributed version control

At the prompt, enter:

$ hg --version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

Mercurial Distributed SCM (version 1.4)

http://mercurial.selenic.com/

EasyMercurial for version control via a GUI

Create a directory (folder) somewhere on your computer.
Start EasyMercurial either by selecting it from a menu, double-clicking an icon or running:
```
$ ./EasyMercurial
```
at the command-line, depending upon your operating system
Open Repository dialog will appear
Click File folder
Click Browse... and select your directory
Click OK

http://easyhg.org/

SQLite for a lightweight relational database

At the prompt, enter:

$ sqlite3 -version

You should be given a version number, e.g.:

3.6.20

http://www.sqlite.org/

Firefox for the SQLite manager below

Depending upon your operating system either start up Firefox from its menu or icon, or, at the prompt, enter:

$ firefox

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

Firefox SQLite manager for a relational database

Once Firefox is running:

Select Tools → SQLite Manager
SQLite Manager window appears
Select Database → New database

http://code.google.com/p/sqlite-manager/