CSCI 170 (GOLDWEBER)
Spring 08: 1/22/08
How to Get Python and Karel/Rurple on your Computer
We will be spending some of the time this semester programming in Python. (Python is the formal language we will express our algorithms in and real computers will be our computing agents.)
In particular we will be using a particular programming environment: rurple. This system has a built-in editor so you will use it to both type in your python algorithms/programs as well as to run your algorithms/programs.
Installing Python and ruple on your computer is not that hard: it just involves installing three programs. Order is important so follow these instructions carefully.
  1. Install Python on your computer. Point your Web browser to http://www.python.org/download/
    From here you will download the appropriate version for your computer: Python 2.5.1 Windows installer or the Python 2.5.1 for Macintosh OS X. After downloading, run the installer and accept all the default installation options.
  2. Install the python graphics library, wxpython. Point your Web browser to http://www.wxpython.org/. In the left-hand column under the "Download" heading is a link labeled "Binaries." Click on this link. There will a couple of sections on this Web page: one is for Windows users and another is for Mac OS X. Regardless, select the version of wxPython for Python 2.5. You should also select the unicode version. (Though for our purposes, the ansi version will work just fine too.) After downloading the installer, run the installer, accepting all the default installation choices.
  3. Install Ruple. Point your Web browser to http://rur-ple.sourceforge.net/ and click on the "go to the download page" link. On this page you will see a table of various packages you can download. Click on the "rurple1.0rc3" link. (Either the label itself or the green download button to its right.) You will be presented with another table with only one entry in it: rurple.1.0rc3.zip. Click on this file label to initiate the download.
    Unzip the downloaded zip file archive and place the resulting folder (called RURPLE1.0RC3) wherever it will be convenient. (e.g. Your desktop.). If all went well you can just double click on the file RUR_START.PY which is inside this folder to start up rurple.
Rurple is also installed on the lab machines in our classroom (Alter 223).
In spite of my requests, the people who install the software on the public lab machines have elected to not install it on the public machines (e.g. Alter B2 lab). Fear not, you can still use rurple on these machines. Here's how:
  1. Login to a public windows machine (i.e. The Novell network login) as you would normally.
  2. Open up the P drive - available from the myComputer option.
  3. Navigate to the folder titled Goldweber and open up this folder
  4. Double-click on the file labeled install_all_3.bat
    This will install all the above three programs on that machine. It takes about 2 minutes or so. After the installation is completed one can find rurple in the usual location; that is in the same location it would be found on one of the Alter 223 machines.
    (i.e. Under Departmental Software - Mathematics & Computer Science - rurple)
    Enjoy!


    5. File translated from TEX by TTH, version 3.74.
    On 23 Jan 2008, 15:07.