Montana Tech of The University of Montana
Computer Science Department

CSCI 135
Fundamentals of Computer Science I
Fall 2021



RESOURCES

This page has useful resources and links related to the Java programming course:
Previous course web sites are also available. In the past, this course was taught using the Java language, so past course materials may not be applicable to this year's course.


These are extra practice exercises. They are not homework or extra credit. You may email them to me for me to check or give suggestions on.
Accessing the Electronic Textbook
Go to the electronics books link on the Montana Tech Library website. Scroll down to "S" and click on "Safari Technical eBooks". As a Montana Tech student, you have access to all these textbooks for free - but you will need to login through your Tech account. The first time you go to Safari, use the search box at the top of the page and search for "Introducing Python, 2nd Edition". Click on the icon for that book, and then you can begin (or continue) reading it.


Installing Python/Idle on your Windows computer
Start by going to Python's download page. In the left hand column, under "Stable Releases", "Download Windows Installer (64-bit)". Choose this one. When the download completes, either choose it to run from your browser download icon, or go to the Downloads directory and double click on the downloaded file. The installer should begin installation.

Follow the instructions on the installer. It is handy to check the box to create a desktop icon, and also check the box to add Python to your path. You may need to reboot your computer.

The Python shell (called Idle) will come up when you double click the icon. If you want to test code interactively, you can type it in here. If you want to edit a file, you can choose the edit button on the Python shell window, and an editor window will open.


Installing Python/Idle on your Mac computer
Start by going to Python's download page. Click on the most recent stable release. Choose mac-os 64-bit universal2 installer. This will download the installer, and once it is downloaded, you will need to click on that to install Python/Idle on your machine.

Follow the instructions on the installer. Once done, a Finder window will open, and you need to double click on Install Certificates.command. (Note, you must have admin permissions on your machine to do this.)

The Python shell (called Idle) will come up when you double click the IDLE.app in Finder. If you want to test code interactively, you can type it in here. If you want to edit a file, you can choose the edit button on the Python shell window, and an editor window will open. If you get a message that your Dock permissions are set to "Always", follow the instructions in the Idle shell to fix this.


Installing Python Libraries for Graphics

If you have installed python on your own computer and want to run / write graphics programs using StdDraw.py, you will need to install two libraries: numpy and pygame. To install these, start a command window (by typing Command in the search / Cortana bar). Then at the command line prompt, type:

pip install pygame
pip install numpy

You will need to be connected to the internet so that these libraries can be downloaded.



Page last updated: September 22, 2021