Craig Persiko's Links for Students

Here are some links to software and information I recommend for my students. Please e-mail me if you have others you think I should add to the list.

Sources of Information and Help

• Note: As of June 2010, ALL CCSF e-mail goes only to your CCSFmail Address. Click here for more info about this change and here is the FAQ for the CCSFmail Account
• assist.org: a website with up-to date info on which CCSF courses transfer to 4-year colleges in California.
• Homepage for the ACRC Computer Lab which includes links to all of their handouts, and the schedule and skill list for the tutors.

  UNIX Information

• Also valuable is UNIXhelp for Users, which is full of helpful information for users of the UNIX operating system.
• Webmonkey has good info on UNIX and HTML.
• A general introduction to the text editer vi - which has many more features than pico

  C++ Information

• Bloodshed.net offers a free C++ compiler you can download, and their site has lots of other good resources too.
• Another free C++ compiler for the PC is at openwatcom.org
• CPlusPlus.com is a web site with some good reference information on C++

  Java Installation

• I encourage you to use Sun's Standard Edition (SE) Java Development Kit: JDK 6 Update 23. The Java SE Development Kit (JDK), which can be downloaded from Oracle from here, free of charge. (Click on "Download JDK" button.)
• Mac users may find that Java is already installed - try running javac at the command line. Here are instructions on how to switch to Java 6 on Mac OS X
• The JDK is already installed on hills and on the PCs in the ACRC lab.
• If you want a full-feature IDE (Integrated Development Environment), Eclipse is an excellent, free, open-source IDE for Java and other languages. It even helps you complete the commands you're typing, similar to Microsoft's Visual Studio.NET.
• Another IDE which is more simple to use, and good for learning, is jGrasp, which you can download for free

  Java Documentation and Help

• Documentation for Java Standard Edition - complete documentation of the Java language, including links to the following sections:
• The Java Tutorials - Have step-by-step instructions for how to write Java programs.
• API Specification for Java Standard Edition 6. The API is the standard class library of built-in Java classes to help you develop your programs. This site documents exactly how to use the API.
• New To Java Center: An index of resources to get you up-to-speed with Java.

  Resources on writing your own HTML (Web pages)

• Getting Started with HTML - by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
• W3Schools is a great resource for learning HTML and XML
• HTML Goodies
• HTML Code Tutorial
• Webmonkey has good info on UNIX and HTML.
• HTML Kit is a free HTML editor a student recommended. He said, "I find it very user-friendly, especially for beginners."

  Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Information

• Visual Studio .NET Homepage
• #Develop (Sharp Develop): a free, open source Visual Studio workalike that includes the IDE for both VB and C#
• The Mono Project writes open-source .NET Frameworks for many platforms including Mac, Unix, and Linux.
• Here's a page from the MSDN with tutorials for learning C#
• Visual Studio .NET help from Microsoft (MSDN)

  XML Information

• W3Schools is a great resource for learning HTML and XML
• The World Wide Web Consortium's XML in 10 Points
• "Understanding XML" from MSDN
• XML By Example textbook website with source code downloads
• XML Notepad is a free XML editor from Microsoft
• XmlPad is another free XML and DTD/Schema editor/parser - this one has some really nice features, such as the ability to validate schemas and generate diagrams. The latest version (3.02) has schema support, and is available here.

Terminal Emulators / Telnet (to connect to servers such as hills.ccsf.edu)

• SSH Secure Shell Windows client (Non-commercial version) - a feature-rich widows application that even has its own Secure FTP companion. The above link is to download it directly from the CCSF Software Archives.
• PuTTY - a free terminal emulator that supports both Telnet and SSH, color-codes its display, and allows you to scroll the display. SSH is more secure than Telnet, so use it if you can.
• Fugu - a free terminal emulator for the Macintosh, which supports SSH for greater security.

Text Editors for Writing Code

Instead of using pico to write your programs, you may find it easier to use a text editor on your PC to write the code, then to use an FTP program to transfer the source code to hills, where you can compile and run it.
• TextPad - an excellent shareware editor; it's the one I use for everything. It's great for writing HTML, and even includes a spell checker.
• UltraEdit - I've never used this either, but another friend recommended it. It has FTP support. It's a shareware program that costs $50.
• NoteTab is a good, simple HTML editor
• EditPlus: an "Internet-ready" text editor
• XML Notepad is a free XML editor from Microsoft

• You can use any FTP client program, but I recommend the one by the makers of SSH client. The SSH FTP client is included with the terminal emulator installation. It's the first link under "Terminal Emulators / Telnet" above.
• WinSCP is a free, easy to use Secure FTP program
• AceFTP is another free, simple FTP program
• If you have Internet Explorer, you can simply type the following into the URL Address box at top:
  ftp://uname@hills.ccsf.edu
  Of course, instead of uname above, insert your hills login id, including the two digits.
• Mac users: Fetch is an FTP program that's free for educational use
• Another one for Mac users: Fugu has an FTP program and SSH, free of charge

Compression Utilities (ZIP format)

• IZArc is a free zip-compatible compression program for Windows
• CAM UnZip is another one recommended by a student.
• You can download a free evaluation version of WinZip, or buy it for $29

Virus Protection

• All CCSF Students and Faculty are entitled to install McAfee Anti-Virus software on their home PC! Check this website out for more details.

Textbook Options to Save Money

• CCSF has a book loan program.
• Most textbooks are available in CCSF's Rosenberg Library, at the Reserve Desk - ask by course number. Generally you can just use the book for about 2 hours, in the library.
• Electronic versions of textbooks can often be found at CourseSmart.com for about half the retail price of a printed textbook.
• Most textbooks can be found online at sites such as Amazon.com used or new, for less money than they cost at the campus book store.
• chegg.com allows you to rent textbooks.

Miscellaneous

• Planet Source Code - code samples and tutorials in lots of languages
• JourneyEd: Academic Software Discounts
• Sprysoft: Academic Software Discounts

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Last updated: 6/12/13