lab01 : Finish H03 if not done, verify CSIL Account, then zyBooks

What we are working on today

• If you haven’t completed h03, enrolling in the GitHub organization, please start by doing that.
• Then, please try your CSIL/ECI account if you haven’t already
  • If you already logged in to any of the desktop machines in Phelps 3525, you’ve already verified that your CSIL/ECI account works.
  • If you haven’t, try the commands in the section CSIL/ECI Account below.
  • This is preparation for next week’s lab.
• Then you have a choice between a two activities:
  • Getting a head start on next week’s lab by:
    • Learning some basic vim commands by playing this game: https://vim-adventures.com/
    • Then trying your hand at creating and compiling a “Hello World” program on your CSIL/ECI account.
  • Or: just continue working in the zyBook where you left off.
• If the TAs/LAs are not busy helping students with CS16 questions, you may also just ask your TAs/LAs general questions about the course, about Computer Science, and about UCSB; but please give priority to students with questions about CMPSC 16 material.

CSIL/ECI Account

If you are using the desktop machines in Phelps 3525, you are already using your CSIL/ECI account; a terminal window there is a “CSIL/ECI account shell prompt”.

Otherwise:

• On Windows, you can use Powershell
• On MacOS, use Terminal
• On a Linux system, use any terminal prompt
• For other systems, e.g. ChromeOS, ask a staff member for help in finding an ssh option for your platform.

At the command prompt, type the following, substituting your ECI/CSIL account in place of username

ssh username@csil.cs.ucsb.edu

The first time you connect, you may be presented with a one type prompt saying that the “credentials could not be verified”, and asking a Yes/No question. Say “Yes”.

Then, you are in. You can use pwd and ls commands as shown in lecture, plus other Unix commands such as vim and make.

The command logout or exit can be used to return to your own system.

Editing and compiling a Hello World program on ECI/CSIL

First, learn about vim, perhaps using one of these resources:

• https://vim-adventures.com/ Learn vim while playing a game in your browser
• Intro articles about vim:
  • vim overview: https://ucsb-cs16.github.io/topics/vim/
  • vim basic eight commands: https://ucsb-cs16.github.io/topics/vim_basic_eight/
  • vim customization: https://ucsb-cs16.github.io/topics/vim_customization/

Then, to create a Hello World program in vim:

1. Type vim hello.cpp
2. Make sure you are in insert mode (you’ll learn about that when you learn about vim)
3. Type in your program, e.g.

   #include <iostream>
   using namespace std;
      
   int main() {
     cout << "Hello, World!" << endl;
     return 0;
   }
   

4. Press the escape key, then type :wq to save.
5. To compile the program: make hello
6. To run the program ./hello

There is nothing to turn in this week, but next week, you’ll be asked to show that you know how to do this with a live demo either during office hours, or during your discussion section. So, practicing this week is good preparation.

Will we always use vim? No!

We will pivot to using a better editor, VS Code, once we understand the basics of using vim. However, we want to start with vim, because it is an essential skill for computing professionals, especially if you will be involved in Cloud Computing systems, backend web servers, Docker containers, etc.

What if I’m completely stuck on this vim / ECI stuff?

No worries; you can ask the staff for help. In the meantime, if you prefer, you can just make progress in the zyBook, up through Chapter 7.