EPIC (EPcc Interactive Courseware) is a package initially developed at EPcc by Martin Westhead. EPIC is a set of scripts and html files that allow the combination of lecture notes and interactive exercises to create interactive courseware.
EPIC allows a user to read through the course notes at their own pace As well as having the course notes online on the Wed, EPIC allows the user to take part in exercises which are set up with in the course notes to permit the user to test and make use of their newly acquired skills.
EPIC works through the Web using a browser as an interface to both course notes and interactive exercise pages. EPIC is not a stand alone software package which can simply be downloaded and installed on a users machine. Basing EPIC on the WWW keeps the system dynamic. Because of this link to the web the course can be changed or modified and those modifications will be worldwide.
The entire package uses client-server communications. EPIC itself is broken down into two separate parts. On one side are the server scripts and files which exist on the EPcc server and on the other side are the client scripts which are held on the local host.
In essence, the server side scripts act as a mirror bouncing communication from the user back to the client machine. Since EPIC runs through the Web and no direct connection can be made from the browser to the host machine, information has to be pushed from the browser to the server and bounced back to the client.