LC3Tools

LC3Tools is a modern set of tools to build code for and simulate the LC-3 system described in Introduction to Computing by Dr. Yale Patt and Dr. Sanjay Patel.

This project has the following aims:

• Consistent cross-platform support (across Windows, macOS, and Linux)
• Consistent behavior across the GUI, command line tools, and other applications
• Intuitive user interface
• Powerful testing API for unit tests and auto-graders
• Well-documented, simple, open-source code base

All of the code for the project lives in this repository, but it can be broken down into three components: a set of command line tools, a GUI, and a series of unit tests.

Quick Start

LC3Tools has two primary use cases. Students will genenerally use the GUI, which can be downloaded from the Releases tab. For information on which download is correct for you, refer to the downloading/installing guide. To learn how to use the GUI, refer to the beginniner's usage guide.

Instructors, or students who are comfortable with the command line, will generally use the command line tools, which is also the only way to write unit tests. Note that auto-graders are written as unit tests. To get started, follow these steps, which can be performed on any supported platform:

1. Ensure you have CMake and a C++11 compiler installed.
2. Build the command line utilities from source as described in the build document.
3. Follow the unit test tutorial in the unit test document.
4. Refer to the command line tools document.
5. Refer to the samples provided in the src/test/tests/samples directory.
6. Refer to the API document to learn about the full unit testing capabilities.
7. (For instructors) Refer to the Grader document to learn about the script that performs batch grading in a classroom context.

In some cases, instructors may want to modify the GUI as well. In addition to the requirements for the command line utilities, you will need to have NodeJS and Yarn installed. The build document also contains directions on how to build the GUI.

Additional Information

More details on how to use the individual components can be found in the command line tools, GUI, and unit test documents.

Copyright Notice

Copyright 2020 © McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.