Useful Links

Python

Your best bet is python.org See the documentation section for information and tutorials on Python 2, which we are using in class.

You can get python for your home computer at http:www.enthought.com/products/canopy/

Python Tutorials

ipython

matplotlib pyplot

numpy

Unix tutorials

This is a pretty big topic, and if you stick to the basic tools available on your desktop, you may be able to survive with minimal Unix instruction. Happily, we are not the only University trying to teach people about Unix. Here are some simple "getting started" tutorials that I've found:

• UNIXhelp - Univ. of Edinburgh --- a widely distributed unix tutorial.
• University of Surrey Electrical Engineering

Editors

For programming, I think that the best solution is to use the editor that is part of the matlab package to carry out your assignments. However, you may also need to do some simple text editing outside of matlab. For that, there are a number of options.

Editors are an area where user preference is the key to success. One finds entire cults of editor enthusiasts willing to fight to the death. I would advise using emacs, but there are other options as well, There are several editors which may be used with our system:

• emacs --- an editor that real programmers really like. A bit complicated, but the X Windows version is fairly easy to get started with. There are many tutorials on the web, but the one that comes with it is as good as any. Go to help menu and select tutorial.
• gedit --- an editor that comes with our window system. Looks easy enough.
• vi --- the standard unix editor. Good for terminals, but doesn't have an X Windows version to make life easy, so not for the faint hearted.

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