[CSC 204] Alternatives to Netdrive and Notepad++

[Andrew Pounds]

Students -- several of you have told me that you are using Mac's this 
semester and cannot therefore use netdrive to access drive Z on orion 
from outside of campus.  You have also told me that Notepad++ will not 
work on your Mac...

As far as a Notepad++ replacement goes, there are two options that look 
like they might be good for editing code:  TextWrangler and jEdit.  I 
have provided links to both of these on the class webpage in the 
REFERENCE section if you would like to download and try them. Based on 
my reading, jEdit seems preferable for writing code.

Now, as far as accessing orion, your best option is going to be to 
download a program called FileZilla (download link also available on the 
class webpage in the REFERENCE section) and set up an FTP connection to 
orion.  The way you do this should be similar to the way you set up a 
netdrive connection, so look at the student guide in the 
http://www.cs.mercer.edu/courses directory for those instructions.  I'll 
help if I can.

The caveat here is that since it is not really a linked drive, you will 
have to use FileZilla to  download your program (or eclipse workspace) 
to your local machine, work on it there, and then use FileZilla to 
upload your completed program.  I've used this model for years and it is 
really not that bad, but it does take a few more steps on the front and 
back ends of your editing session.

Finally, some of you have noticed I included VIM as an editor option.  
This is a super powerful editor that exists on every unix system and can 
be installed on all computer platforms.  It has a huge learning curve 
and is, initially, not at all intuitive.  If you plan on going on in 
computer science then at some point you will use it.  Do not start with 
this editor -- but later in the semester you may want to try it out.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions - and I'll to my 
best to help.



-- 
Andrew J. Pounds, Ph.D.  (pounds at theochem.mercer.edu)
Associate Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science
Mercer University,  Macon, GA 31207   (478) 301-5627