7.2.1 Set up the Tools

My recommendation is use gcc. This makes sure your code is relatively portable to avr-gcc when you are all done. You can use gcc in Linux, FreeBSD or as a component of Cygwin.

If you don't want to use gcc, Borland C (installed at the lab) probably works okay. However, you need to make sure your program compiles in gcc when you turn it in. I will not port programs to gcc, but I can help you diagnose problems at the lab.

If you use Windows and don't want to install a new OS just for this class, you have two main alternatives. First, you can use the Knoppix CD (or some other live Linux/FreeBSD live CD) so you can run Linux/FreeBSD without installing it.

Second, you can install Cygwin from http://www.cygwin.com. Cygwin is a collection of files that emulates Linux on a Windows platform.

In other case, I can burn CDs for Knoppix or Cygwin.

For a project this big, it may be worthwhile to look into version control tools. RCS (revision control system) is available with Linux, FreeBSD, Cygwin and also native Win32. It is relatively easy to set up and use. This is not required, and it does incur a little bit of overhead initially. However, I think it will save you time in the end, and it's a good skill set to have for the rest of your programming career.

If there is enough interest, I'll write a small section about RCS and include it in this ``book''.