- The RPN Calculator which includes an integrated development environment (IDE) with a debugger, 26 example programs, and 33,000 words of on-line Help documentation with 34 illustrations. Besides being programmable, this is also a graphing calculator able to generate arbitrary overlaid x/y plots with fully customizable formatting.
- The 8051 Microprocessor Simulator which includes an integrated development environment (IDE) with a debugger, 24 example programs, and 54,000 words of on-line Help documentation with 36 illustrations. The 8051 programs you write will interface with an electronic scrolling signboard, a robotic mouse in a maze, and an audio peak detector.
- The C++ Integrated Development Environment which allows you to write, compile, and debug both console-mode and true Windows programs using either the C or C++ language. This program is accompanied by 93,000 words of on-line Help documentation, 42 illustrations, and 42 fully-explained example programs. One of the example programs is a Breakout style of video game. Another demonstrates how to componentize the code illustrated in the famous Petzold book.
- The GraphIt program which constructs arbitrary two-dimensional plots with full formatting flexibility and the ability to construct .GIF and .BMP files of your plots (these are handy for incorporating into other documents).
- The Illustrated History of Computers, which is not a program but rather a reference paper with 54 photos.
Each course has its own textbook. These three textbooks are e-books (electronic books) which you can view on your computer or print to paper. These textbooks show the depth and breadth of the curriculum and include many additional screen-shots of the software in action. I allow you to download the textbooks for all three courses in the curriculum so you can make sure my approach covers your goals and that you will be successful with my style of teaching.
When you download an e-book you will receive a .CHM (compiled HTML Help) file which is Microsoft's standard methodology for on-line help. Unfortunately .CHM files can harbor viruses (these don't, of course) and so Microsoft decided to impose new rules on .CHM files starting with Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP. If you are running a version of Windows older than Windows XP SP2 you can ignore the rest of this paragraph: my .CHM files will display for you without problems. But if you are running Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista or Windows 7 then it is important that you elect to Save the .CHM file to your hard drive rather than Opening it directly from my web site. This is important because once the .CHM file is on your computer you need to right-click on its filename and then select Properties. At the bottom of the Properties page you may notice a Security warning that says "This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer". Click on the Unblock button and you will then be able to read the complete textbook. You will know that Windows is blocking the .CHM file if when you try to view it every page has been replaced with the message "The page you are looking for is currently unavailable". Note that this extra step is necessary for all .CHM files, even those that arrive inside .ZIP files. Hence you will have to perform this step if you elect to download the trial versions of my RPNCalc or 8051 programs because then you will be receiving .ZIP files that hold a .CHM file.
Here are the hyperlinks that allow you to download the free evaluation materials. The .CHM files range from 0.2 to 3.3 Mbytes, and hence will require from 1 to 9 minutes to download over a 56K bit/sec modem.
