What you need to do.

• 1. Check that you have access to a unix machine either on the web or, if you are a PC or Mac owners you should look seriously into the free unix system for PCs: linux (see also other sites.) It is possible to work on Windows 95 with Visual C++ or on a Mac with MetroWerks CodeWarrior C++ compilers but some of the exercises will not be possible witht these.
• 2. Check you have a C++ compiler, preferably gcc 2.7 g++ (it is free) under X. It is also a good idea to have a debugger, for instance ( gdb 4.16 with gcc), and of course a text editor such as (vi under unix or better xemacs)
• 3. Install and check on an example freefem
• 4. Install and check on an example gnuplot 3.5
• 5. Check you have access to the 2 books mentionned above.