In this course we will be working with a variety of scripting and encoding languages:
- XML-compliant TEI and XSL
- JavaScript
- Python
- HTML
- CSS
In our classroom all of the computers have the oXygen XML editor installed – we will be using this extensively for the TEI sections of the course. oXygen is particularly valuable to Digital Humanists because it helps you to validate your code as well as write and edit it.
When you are not in class and working on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python assignments, you can use your personal laptop’s bundled text editor (in Mac it’s called TextEdit; in Windows it’s called NotePad). However, you may want to download a free code editor that is better suited to your tasks. I use one called Sublime Text, which is available for Mac and Windows. The download is free – once you’ve downloaded it you will get prompted to buy the software, but there is no time limit on the trial version, so just (politely) ignore the requests to pay for it. Sublime Text works really well with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can also use it to work on your TEI texts and then bring them to class to validate them.
You may also want to download Python and Python Idle for the work we do in Module 2. Python 2.7 comes bundled with Macs, but if you use Windows you will need to download Python here. This download *should* include IDLE (the Python Integrated DeveLopment Environment); Mac users will need to download here to add IDLE.
Never fear. We’ll be working through each of these individually and over time. I’ll give you instructions about how to download, install, and set up each application.
In order to give context for each coding language that we’re working in, I will assign you to take a tutorial in either Lynda.com (which Bucknell has a site license for) or CodeAcademy (which is available on the web). Working through these tutorials will be required in order for you to successfully complete each module, and I will ask you to submit your completed tutorials. Even if you already have some experience with one of the coding languages we use, it’s always helpful to work through a tutorial to refresh your memory and think about how you will be using that code in the context of this course.