AlphaZ has been only tested on 64 bit Linux and MacOS. There are several options that can be used to get a working eclipse instance with AlphaZ installed.

===== Option 1 - Eclipse Setup on CS Department Machines =====
You must be a CSU student with access to the CS deparment machines to do this. An eclipse environment with all necessary plug-ins is available in the AlphaZ project directory. Run the following in a bash terminal to add the AlphaZ project directory to your path:
<code bash>
echo 'export PATH=/s/chopin/h/proj/AlphaZ/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
</code>

Then launch Eclipse with the following command:
<code bash>
eclipse.alphaz
</code>

===== Option 2 - Eclipse Setup using Local Install =====
Alternatively, you can install eclipse on your own machine and manually install the AlphaZ plugins directly.
See the README in the AlphaZ git repo: \\
https://github.com/CSU-CS-Melange/AlphaZ


=====Checking out Sample Project======
To get started with AlphaZ, a Java plug-in project with examples can be checked out from our repository. From Eclipse, do the following:
  - ''File'' > ''Import...'' > ''Git''> ''Projects from Git'' > click ''Next'' > ''Clone URI'' > click ''Next''
  - In the ''URI:'' field, specify ''https://github.com/CSU-CS-Melange/AlphaZ'' > click ''Next'' and follow the prompts with defaults until you reach the "Import Projects" step
  - Click ''Deselect All'' > select the ''edu.csu.melange.alphabets.examples'' project from the list > click ''Finish''


===What's Inside===
Inside the ''edu.csu.melange.alphabets.examples'' project, you will find four directories: ''AlphabetsExamples'', ''CodeGenTutorial'', ''CommandScripts'' and ''ValidationTutorial''. Alphabets is the programming language for programming in equations (with extension .ab), and CompilerScripts (.cs) are script files to use the scripting interface of AlphaZ.

Try running ''BasicScript.cs'' in the ''CommandScripts'' directory to make sure that the system is working on your machine (right click ''BasicScript.cs'' > ''Run as'' > ''Compiler Script'').

''ReadAlphabets'' loads .ab files and parses it to get a ''Program'' object.
Objects returned by commands and strings/integers can be stored in untyped variables.

''Show'', ''AShow'', ''PrintAST'' are all commands to print out the program in different formats.

''generateXXX'' commands takes the program and generates executable C code.


===== Common Pitfalls===

Check the following if something does not work
  * AlphaZ requires JRE1.8. Please make sure you have the Java 8 installed on your machine, and it is the default java version used by eclipse. Otherwise, the plugins installed will not be activated. 
  * Most of the machines in the department is 64bit linux, but some are 32bit. You won't be able to start eclipse in those machines.
  * If Eclipse does not reflect the changes you made, try
    * Cleaning the project
    * Starting eclipse with -clean option so that plug-ins are refreshed