C-Academy Programming Support

Supporting material for the C-Academy programming track: setup scripts, code examples, and utilities.

Repository layout

.
├── bin/        # setup scripts and utilities
│   └── setup.sh
├── examples/   # code examples (added as the course progresses)
└── README.md

Development environment

The course runs inside an Ubuntu 26.04 LTS virtual machine. Setup has two parts: creating the VM on your own machine (manual), then provisioning the tools inside it (automated).

1. Create the VM (host machine)

1. Download and install VirtualBox: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
2. Install the Extension Pack from the same page.
3. Download the Ubuntu 26.04 Desktop ISO (Intel/AMD 64-bit): https://ubuntu.com/download
4. Create a new VM in VirtualBox and point it at the Ubuntu ISO, then install.

2. Provision the VM (inside Ubuntu)

Open a terminal in the VM. A base Ubuntu install does not ship curl, so install it first:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y curl

The recommended way is then to download the script, read it, then run it:

curl -fsSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/detiuaveiro/c-academy-prog-support/main/bin/setup.sh
less setup.sh        # take a look before running
bash setup.sh

Or, the one-liner (only run code you trust this way):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/detiuaveiro/c-academy-prog-support/main/bin/setup.sh | bash

The script installs and verifies:

• Python — python3, python3-venv, python3-pip (Python 3.14, the Ubuntu 26.04 default)
• Java — default-jdk, maven
• Haskell — ghc, ghci, runghc, cabal
• Rust — rustc, cargo
• C / low-level — gcc, make, objdump / binutils
• MIPS — spim for terminal execution, plus the MARS GUI simulator as mars
• Tools — git, vim, curl
• VS Code — plus the Python, Java, Haskell, and Rust extensions

It is idempotent (safe to re-run) and does not pin package versions — the LTS archive already locks the relevant series.

Troubleshooting: Java certificates

If Maven or the JDK fail with TLS/certificate errors, repair the Java CA store:

sudo dpkg --purge --force-depends ca-certificates-java
sudo apt-get install ca-certificates-java

Verifying your setup

python3 --version       # Python 3.14.x
python3 -m venv testenv # should create a venv without errors
java -version
javac -version
javadoc -version
mvn -version
ghc --version
ghci --version
runghc --version
cabal --version
rustc --version
cargo --version
gcc --version
make --version
objdump --version
spim -version
command -v mars         # should print /usr/local/bin/mars
git --version
echo "$JAVA_HOME"     # path under /usr/lib/jvm (set in /etc/environment)

To open the graphical MIPS simulator used in the Session 05 slides, run:

mars

JAVA_HOME is written to /etc/environment by the setup script, so it applies system-wide on your next login. To use it in the current shell without logging out: source /etc/environment && export JAVA_HOME.