SAGE DAYS 9, an ACCELERATE BC Graduate training event Mathematical Graphics and Visualization Workshop August 8-16, 2008 Burnaby, Canada Simon Fraser University

Software

If you bring your own laptop, you probably want to make sure that it comes preinstalled with the following software, which is all freely available.

• SAGE, installation instructions are available on their website.
• PYTHON, comes as part of SAGE.
• JYTHON, which depends on Java. We will be using jythonc as well. This needs a Java Development Kit, not just a Java Runtime Environment.
• PiScript, a Python library for producing PostScript.
• JyScript, a Jython library to easily create graphical applets for web pages, using a syntax very similar to PiScript.

You should also make sure that you have a decent text editor, that you can use to prepare plain text files and program sources. Some well-known editors that are adequate for our purposes include:

• EMACS
• VI
• Notepad or WinEdit for Microsoft
• TextEdit or XCode for Apple OSX
• nedit, gedit, kedit on linux and unix machines

Your computer probably already comes equipped with one of these.

Network connectivity

The IRMACS Centre has wireless network access throughout. You will be provided with login and connection information when you arrive.

The student residence have high speed internet as well, but no wireless. Bring a cable if you want to make use of the internet from your room.

Reading

Serious mathematical graphics requires real programming. You will be able to get more out of the workshop if you make sure that you have some familiarity with computer programming before you arrive. Our main programming tool will be the programming language Python. The material linked to below will get you up to speed:

• The official Python Tutorial.
• Dive into Python: A book about Python written for people who already know some programming languages.
• PiScript manual by Bill Casselman. We shall use PiScript for our basic graphical needs.
• JyScript manual by David Austin. Jyscript allows you to create dynamic and interactive graphics with a syntax similar to that of PiScript.
• Sage, a computer algebra system based on Python. We shall be using this whever we need more mathematics than Python provides natively. There is a Sage tutorial available.

Communication Tools

• Sage Days 9 Google Group.
• Sage Days 9 Wiki. This site will be used to post announcements and documents during the workshop and to coordinate collaborative efforts. You can make an account for yourself and contribute to the Wiki yourself.