The programming language we will use throughout the course is Python
2.7.5. Mac users will have a preinstalled version of Python that
can be used, but Windows users will have to install a standalone
version of Python.
We will use two integrated development environments (IDEs) in class that support programming and execution of Python.
We start by using IDLE, the Python IDE that is pre-packaged with some Python installations.
Later in class we will use Eclipse, an "industrial-strength"
open-source IDE that supports the
execution and debugging for Python (and other languages). In particular, we recommend installing Eclipse
Standard and then installing the PyDev Python plug-in. The instructions for
installing the plug-in can be found here (in the
section titled "Installing with the update site"). Once the plug-in
is installed, you will also have to set Eclipse to use the installed
Python interpreter.