This is a breakdown of some of the things that you will be using in this course:

• Webhosting account.  Since our game will be created and stored online, we need a place to put it.  You do not need to spend money on a domain name or webhosting account.  There are many free webhosting companies that have services that will meet our needs.  You can explore some diffent options, as some of them do not work well with the BC Ministry of Education provided Internet.  (This site, for example, seems to load slower when I'm at school, but works fine at home).  You can find out some of the requirements in our forums as well as a guideline to some features that might make your work easier to use.
• PHP (prehypertext processign) is the programming/scripting language that we will be using. Almost every server side web technology (including this website) includes PHP as its programming language.  Your webhosting account will need to support PHP
• MySQL is the database that we will be storing data in.  It is a staple of web hosting accounts that support databases, but not all account options will include MySQL in their package.
• FTP (file transfer protocol) will be used to transfer files to your webhosting account.  It will be built into some of the applications we use, but you should try to pick a webhosting account that supports FTP.
• Text editor.  My personal favourte, for Windows based computers, is Notepad++.  It is open source (free) and has a built in FTP.  You can edit your files, save them and they are automatically uploaded so that you can do immediate testing to see if something does/doesn't work.
• FTP program.  A good, free one is Filezilla.  Not needed if you are using something like Notepad++ that integrates FTP into its functionality.
• Google Apps.  This will be a good place to store important documents and notes, such as your planning phase.  That way it is easily accessible both at home and at school.
• A web browser, for testing your application
• Computer requirements