HiC /ˌhaɪˈsiː/ is a C++ integrated development environment designed for use in introductory computer science (CS1) courses. HiC supports a subset of C++. Pointers, operator overloading, bitwise operations, and other features of C++, are not included in the subset of C++ that is HiC. The result is that error messages can be more specific, providing more help to novice programmers. HiC is not a compiler, it does not create stand-alone executable programs. Instead HiC interprets the subset of C++ accepted by HiC.
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Author
HiC was developed by Professor Robert W. Hasker at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Hasker created HiC after a colleague mentioned that professional development tools should not be used in introductory programming courses. Several Joint International Master graduate students, Andreas Altmannsberger, Matt Booher, Christian Döring, Tanja Medschinski, and Volker Schmitt contributed to HiC, providing HiC with LEGO RCX support.
Name
The name "HiC" could be taken to mean "High C", or Hasker's Instructional C++.
Terms of use
HiC is freely available for use by institutions of up to 15,000 students for on-campus (traditional) courses. Instructors are advised to contact the program author to get on a mailing list for updates. Larger institutions and instructors and students of online/distance courses must contact the author for permission to use HiC. The author suggests that professionals use a professional compiler.
Platform support
HiC has been developed for use on Wintel platforms. This should include Microsoft Windows releases including and since Microsoft Windows 95.
Program execution
HiC was designed to be executed by merely launching a single executable: hic.exe. As such, there are no DLL or other files one must install. The syntax of HiC is available in the help of the application.
Current release
As of 2012 March 12, the latest release is HiC version 3.6.6.