Chuck and I believe that this CD ROM Learning Experience will provide you with a great value on your educational journey. Although it is designed for people who want to learn enough C to move into C++ or Java, you'll find it useful even if you would just like an introduction to C. Please note that we are assuming you have already written at least a few small programs in some language; you might still get some value from the CD even if you've never programmed before but that could require some extra effort at the beginning. You'll know by the end of the first lecture and exercises.

All the lectures on the CD are quite self-explanatory, and the first one describes what to expect throughout the course.

The installation process should be easy and straightforward. Please read the following instructions carefully to ensure a pleasant experience in the installation and use of your new training course.

The installation procedure has the following steps:

1. Install the latest Internet Explorer for your platform
2. Install the sound support for Internet Explorer
3. Begin playing the lectures (You can go directly to this step if you already have a working Internet Explorer Version 4 or greater, with working sound)
4. You may also find some answers in the Frequently-Asked Questions section

Finally, here are the credits and links to the people who worked on this CD.

1. Install Internet Explorer 

If you do not currently have the Internet Explorer version 4 or above installed on your machine, you can find the latest versions for Windows or Macintosh on this CD ROM. Click here (and run IE5Setup.exe) for the Windows installation, and click here for the Macintosh installation. For further instructions, please see the Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer Web page or the Microsoft Macintosh Internet Explorer Web page.

Please note that because of the extra features available on Internet Explorer (which produces some very impressive results as a multimedia platform) this CD Rom will NOT work with Netscape Navigator. However, the two browsers can coexist on your computer without harm.

2. Install Microsoft's Windows Media Player 

3. Begin playing the lectures 

Home.htm is the home page for the lectures, and you can start from that page once the installation is complete. It is the jumping-off point for all of the lectures on the CD, and contains brief descriptions the lectures and what you can expect to learn from each one.

If you become familiar with some of the features of the Internet Explorer, you'll find that your experience can be enhanced. In particular, notice the navigation buttons along the bottom of the screen, from left to right:

1. The "outline" button will show or hide the outline on the left side of the screen.
2. When the outline is showing, the button to the right of the "outline" button will expand and collapse the detail of the outline.
3. The navigation buttons move you to the next and previous slides.
4. The button with the speaker icon will pause the playing of the current narration (you can also just press the "Esc" key on your keyboard). Note that this cannot be used to replay the current slide's narration; to do that you must revisit the slide by either going to another slide and coming back, or clicking on the slide name in the outline on the left side of the screen.
5. The button with the projector screen will cause a full-screen presentation that may be used for projection purposes, for example, or in cases where you want the whole screen to be filled with the slides. To navigate in full-screen mode you must right-click your mouse.

In addition, the Internet Explorer navigation buttons at the top of the screen also work in the same fashion that they do when you're browsing the Web.

4. Frequently-Asked Questions 

If the solution you're looking for is not listed here, you may find a more recent solution on the MindView, Inc. Web site at http://www.MindView.net/ThinkingInC-CD/FAQ.html. If this does not solve your problem, then go to the support site at http://www.FreshSources.com.

How do I compile the example/exercise/solution code on the CD? This CD Rom does not include any compilation tools for C, C++ or Java. It is your responsibility to acquire and install the tool of your choice. However, there are a number of different C and C++ compilers that are freely-available on the Internet; you should go to your favorite Web search engine ( http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.altavista.com, http://www.hotbot.com, http://www.snap.com, etc.) and look for "Free C++ Compilers" or something similar (you know, the usual thing you do when searching for something on the Internet...). For example, you can find a free 32-bit C++ compiler for Windows at www.Borland.com. Also, The 32-bit DOS/Windows version of the GNU g++ compiler is at http://sourceware.cygnus.com/cygwin/. It is not 100% compatible with Standard C++ and with what's discussed on the CD, but it's close. Keep in mind that the installation and use of free compilers can sometimes be more complex than for those that you purchase, so be ready to roll up your sleeves and struggle a bit to get them going the first time (unfortunately, we are unable to provide support assistance with compiler installations. Please refer to the site where you downloaded the compiler or the compiler vendor for such support).

There are several freely-available Java compilers but you might as well start with the free JDK from http://java.sun.com. It's the standard and it has lots of documentation with it, in HTML form.

The sound isn't working. You must first download and install the Windows Media Player, as in Step 2, above. Once you do that, try locating one of the files on the CD (in many subdirectories where the chapter lectures are) ending with ".asf" and double clicking on it. If the Windows Media Player doesn't start up, then there's something wrong with your software installation. If it does and you hear no sound (you do have the volume turned up, right?) then there's something wrong with your software or hardware installation. We are unable to assist you with such problems; you must contact your computer manufacturer or support center. You may find the answer at the Microsoft media player Web page.

Sometimes the sound stops working, especially if I'm selecting pages using the index on the left-hand side of the screen. This seems to be an "artifact" of Internet Explorer, but it also doesn't seem to happen very often. If you just shut down the Internet Explorer and start it up again on the same lecture it seems to fix the problem. If you have consistent problems and you don't have the latest version of Internet Explorer for your platform, you might want to install the version provided on this CD, as in Step 1, above.

The fonts look bad. These documents use standard fonts so if the fonts look bad on screen it's a problem with your system configuration. However, if you're running Adobe Type Manager (ATM), it can cause problems if one of the fonts used in the document is not in your TrueType list but is in your ATM list of fonts. If this happens you should either turn off ATM, or install Verdana as a TrueType font (it is available for free download here).

Credits

Course development, slide creation and recording: Chuck Allison, http://www.FreshSources.com

Production, post-processing and project management: Bruce Eckel

Graphic Design: Daniel Will-Harris http://www.Will-Harris.com