Westat1 - 1:24 pm on Sep 6, 2002 (gmt 0)

Not sure if this is the right place for this post, so please move if it need be.

I am getting really confused with ping and traceroute.
In laymans terms what is the difference.
I understand the basics, but I am in a class and supposed to download ping software. I have downloaded several but it looks like it is giving me traceroute results (hops).

What do you use?

Please help.