Phase 1.1: Gitting Ready

Before you start coding, let's get our development environment set up. Here's what you'll need to start:

  • GitHub Account
  • Git
  • Node.js and Node Package Manager (npm)
  • Code Editor

GitHub

If you don't already have one, create a GitHub account at github.com.

What is GitHub?

  • GitHub is a popular platform used to store, share, and deploy software.
  • GitHub uses git (see below) to easily track and manage changes from multiple developers.
  • Owned by Microsoft

Git

Do you already have git installed? You can check by running git --version.

If the command returns an error (command not found), you can download a git installer here: Git Downloads. Verify that git is properly installed by running git --version

What is git? How is it different from GitHub?

  • Git is a version control system critical to modern software development
  • Git manages multiple versions of your code with branches. If multiple developers are working on the same project, each developer creates their own branch. When finished, changes are merged together into a main/master branch.
  • Changes are stored on branches through a process of staging and commiting
  • Open Source

Node.js and Node Package Manager (npm)

Node.js is a JavaScript runtme that allows you to run JavaScript code outside of a browser.

Already have Node installed? Run node --version to check. Ideally you should be running a supported version of Node (v18 or higher as of S).

Don't have Node installed? Download and install the LTS (long term support) version of Node here.

Have an old version of Node installed and want to upgrade? You can install a newer version from te Node.js website or with nvm (Node Version Manager).

Code Editor

There's a lot of editors and IDEs to choose from. If you have a preferred editor, feel free to use it. We generally recommend Visual Studio Code (VSCode) for newer developers. You can download VSCode from their official website.

If you're more experienced developer and are looking for something that's way more powerful, check out WebStorm. It's free for students!

If you love complaining about how much bloat VSCode has, just stick with Neovim :)