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Computer platform
This tutorial was written for use by the students of the Physics Department at Brock University.
It is typically covered during the first lab of the second-year laboratory course, and the
students are encouraged to make use of physica in all subsequent labs. Most students
are already familiar with the online
physica version, where a much simplified web-based interface isolates them
from the full power and complexity of the command-line language, as it is used extensively in
the first-year laboratories. Those who are accessing this tutorial in some other way may need
to make some changes to the process of launching physica or editing and manipulating
files and directories.
A good way to work through this tutorial is to arrange three windows on the screen: the web browser
with the text of the tutorial, a small file editing window, and the terminal window there you run
physica by typing at the prompt:
physica
With that, an additional window will show up, the physica graphics output window;
please, do not change its size (!), but feel free to move it around the screen. The typical user
screen may look like this:
![[screen layout]](screen_layout.png)
with a browser, a terminal with physica running, the graphics output, and a simple file editor to
write a simple physica macro all arranged side-by-side.
| ![[BrockU]](http://www.physics.brocku.ca/images/brocku-rectangle-icon.png){kind=icon}