Here you will install and set up various programs that most JavaScript developers have within close reach. This page may take a while depending on your internet connection and computer's speed. You can proceed with the rest of the course while these programs finish installing.
Visual Studio Code
This is one of the most popular programs to develop in. It is a text-editor, but it has many functions that professional developers use all the time. Syntax highlighting, Git integration, plugins, auto-complete and more:
Go to this website and install the version appropriate to your operating system.
Chrome
You should already have this installed, but if not, you can download and install it here:
You have just installed a complete developer tool set. Experiment with the different tools, yet don't worry about not using all their functionality, they are extremely sophisticated programs!
If you don't want to install Google Chrome, then try Ungoogled Chromium, or any Chromium based browser like Brave.
The JavaScript itself should work on any modern browser, the reason you're encouraged to install Chrome, is just so the user interface is the same as what you see in the course.
Git and GitHub
Git is a version control system that enables you to track changes, collaborate with others, and manage different versions of a project. Go here and install Git. Git also comes with it's own command line called Git Bash.
CodingNomads has a free dedicated course on working with Git and GitHub. Check it out to gain some familiarity with this extremely important piece of your developer tool set. Feel free to only do the first module for now, but bookmark it so you can go back and finish it later. Its a great resource and reference when you need it!
This is what most of the professional coding world uses to store, share and collaborate on code. If you're a Git guru by the time you're hitting the job market, you'll have an edge over the competition.
The Command Line (Terminal)
The command line is a tool for you to interact with the system by entering commands. You can navigate through directories, create, delete and edit files and so much more. You'll want to have a terminal set up to be able to interact with Git on the command line.
On MacOS and Linux, a suitable terminal application is already pre-installed, it is called "Terminal"!
If you're using Windows, you may need some setup.
In the web-developer world, the most used operating systems are UNIX-based. This includes both Linux as well as MacOS. Web developers often work with UNIX-based systems because most server environments run some version of Linux. It's important to have a good understanding of how to interact with Linux for professional web development.
For this course, you can use Git Bash that comes included when you install Git. This emulates a UNIX environment.
You can also use the command prompt if you really want, although, PowerShell is the modern alternative for Windows.
There are no command line lessons or activities in this course. All you'll need it for is to use Git.
Summary: Essential Tools - Command Line, Git, VSCode and More
- The command line is a tool for you to interact with the system
- Git is a control system that tracks your changes and allows you to collaborate with others
- Visual Studio Code (VSCode) is on of the most popular text editors
- Chrome is a suitable web browser