Web-Based Computing in C/C++
Nathan Wong, Kevin J. Gucwa, Harry Hui Cheng · 2015
An interactive, web-based C/C++ computing environment has been developed to facilitate programming education. An editor with syntax highlighting is provided for students to solve the educational lessons designed to introduce computer programming concepts. The system uses SafeCh, a secure C/C++ interpreter that sandboxes the user to protect against server access, to execute code written by the user. Node.js, a JavaScript framework, is used to interface with SafeCh to redirect user input and output data from client to server and vice versa, creating an interactive programming environment. Users are able to access the learning environment conveniently using any internet-enabled device, including mobile phones and tablets. Most other web-based interactive programming tutorials teach scripting languages such as Python or JavaScript. The few existing web tutorials for C/C++ use server-side compilation and thus lack the same interactivity as is available with this system. Given the increasing popularity of programming education events such as Hour of Code, this web-based computing system can be a simple, interactive method to introduce and teach C/C++.