Required Software
Web Browser
For this course, you need a web browser that has good support for XHTML and CSS and other web standards. The best choice here is Firefox.
Mac users can also work with Safari, which comes with OSX.
Text Editor
You will need a text editor to work with HTML and CSS files. Note that you cannot use a graphical HTML editor for this course—you need a text editor.
Any text editor you like will do. One that has syntax highlighting will be nice, but certainly not required. These are some suggestions.
- Text Wrangler for Mac OSX
- SubEthaEdit for Mac OSX
- NEdit for Unix/Linux
- TextPad for Windows
- Edit Pad Classic for Windows
Graphics Software
You will need a bitmap graphics program so you can work with images for your web pages. If you already have a program like Photoshop or Painter, you can use that, but you certainly shouldn't feel the need to buy it for this course. The GIMP is an excellent image editor and it's free.
Python
We will be programming in the Python programming language in this course. You can download Python for free for almost any operating system.
- Python for all operating systems. Choose either the Mac OSX or Windows binary.
Utility Software
Secure File Transfer
You will need to use a secure file transfer (SCP) program to transfer files to the course web server.
- FileZilla for Mac OSX or Windows
- Fugu for Mac OSX
- SSH Client for Windows
-
scpshould be available by default on Unix/Linux systems.
Decompression Software
You will probably need some software to decompress the other files you've downloaded before they can be installed.
- Stuffit Expander for Mac
- WinZip for Windows
- Compression/decompression utilities should be available by default on Unix/Linux systems.