Mars Setup

The Mars program can be downloaded as a Jar (Java archive) file here. On most operating systems it can be executed by navigating a file browser to its location, then double-clicking on the Jar file.

After downloading the program, you should start it up and do some configuration of general settings and editor settings.

General Settings

Click on the settings menu. You should see a display like the one below. If any of the check box menu items are set up different from the figure below, change them.

These settings are saved so that you only need to set them once. You can experiment with alternate settings later if you want, but I recommend starting with the check box items as shown.

Editor Settings

Click on the "Settings" menu again. This time select the "Editor..." menu item. This should bring up the dialog shown below. The most important things to change here are

1. Change the "Font Family" selection to either "FreeMono" or "Monospaced". This will make it easier to align the editor display and make it more readable.
2. Change the "Tab Size" to 4. This is the setting used in my example programs. You can change this later if you want.
3. Change the "Popup Instruction Guide" radio button selection to "Display instruction guide after 2 letters typed". You can change this later if you want.
4. After changing the settings as needed, click on the "Apply" button.