We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us. --Marshall McLuhan
The Bare Necessities♭Disney's Jungle Book
To use this book you should obtain the following tools:
A computer.
Typically students will use a laptop to work in a class. The computer does not have to be powerful or new. Most students use either Windows or Apple systems, but a Linux-based computer will work.
A Folder on Your Computer(s) For Econ 354
The Ox system installed on the computer
These notes were based on Ox 8.0 but are being updated for the major changes in Ox 9.0. Details instructions are given below. One part that may be confusing is making sure you install the free version of Ox called Ox Console (and not other commercial Ox-based products.
OxEdit code editing program.
OxEdit is installed along with Ox so this is typically not a separate tool to download. You can certainly use another code editor to edit your programs, but there is no reason to do so unless you already have a favorite.
New in 2023: Later in the course we may switch to using Visual Studio Code with an Ox Extension, but the simplicity of OxEdit means we have focus on basic programming principles for now.
This book: C4E
This is an open textbook. The online version is here.. A zip file to install it locally my also be provided.
C4E Code Folder
A zip file named code.zip will be distributed. It contains starter and demonstration programs for many of the class exercises
Copy that file to your Econ354 folder. Extract the zip file, which will create a folder called code
I recommend you make a copy of the folder (maybe name it mycode). Work in the copy of the folder, modifying the files and adding new ones as needed. If you need to recover the original version it will be in code or can be extracted again from code.zip
Ox Installation Instructions.
Follow the screen shot demonstration here: Ox 9 Install
OxEdit Setup & Use (these steps also include in the video)
OxEdit may open automatically after installation. If it does not, find and click on the OxEdit icon that should have been added to your desktop or other location:
When first started OxEdit opens two sample Ox programs. OxEdit is not the same as Ox. Rather, it is a text editor designed to work with Ox programs (and other computer languages). You can run sample_2.ox to test the installation two different ways: click on the play icon on the menu to run the program. Or you can click on Run → Ox, which is the same thing.
The program should run and produce output. OxEdit sends your program to Ox and displays the output in a new window named +Ox Output.
Drag the output window to the bottom or right edge of the OxEdit screen so that you can see output and program(s) at the same time.
Now if you run sample_2.ox again the output will appear at the bottom of the same window. This lets you see results as edit your programs. You can drag the output window to the bottom or right edge of the OxEdit screen so that you can see output and program(s) at the same time.
You can save your output to a file. One way is to "right click" on the +Ox Output tab and choose Save when the menu pops up.
Save the output to a file. If you don't do this then the output file will disappear when OxEdit is closed.
All Users Make This Change. By default OxEdit is not set up to let you enter input from the keyboard to running Ox programs. We want to do this so you have to make one change by clicking on Tools → Add/Remove Modules:
All students should check ON the Takes Input box so that Ox programs will receive keyboard input. You can also remove the two Ox&Gauss modules at the top of the menu as we will not use that mode of running Ox. Mac Users and others who want to specialize how OxEdit calls Ox: Drag the right edge of the window so that you can see all the text of the Module Specification input boxes.
The notes are included in Starter Kit, both as html files.
Look for the folder C4E where you extracted the starter kit. You copy open contents.html in your browser to see the notes or C4E.pdf as a PDF.
Point your browser to that folder and click on index.html.
Open the C4E Code Project File
Open OxEdit. Close any open files (File → Close All).
Open a Project: File → Projects → Open Project.
Navigate to the mycode folder you created earlier. You will see a file named C4E.oxp. (If you see other files you are probably in "Open File" not "Open Project".) That will open and give you quick access to all the sample code and exercises in the text inside OxEdit
Two things happen when you do this. First, you will see a short program named 01a-hello-world.ox. And, to the left of your screen click on the "Project" tab. You will see a list of all the files in the notes in roughly the correct order.
Exit OxEdit. Next time you start it the project files will still be listed.
