general-setup.md

General setup for JavaScript classes

Courses can be conducted on Windows 8 or later, MacOS X Mojave (10.18) or later, and Linux (most modern versions). We recommend running any course on a computer with a modern processor, 8GB+ of RAM and at least 250GB of disk space.

Courses are intended to be run on a computer with Administrative access, at least at the point of install of the software below.

Courses are not intended to run on a tablet, such as an Apple iPad or a Windows Surface or similar.

Required Software

• Node.js: the engine for most JavaScript classes. Node version 14 or later should be sufficient for class. Older versions are possible, with advanced notice and development time.
• Git: Source control management, also used by many tools
• A web browser, can be any of
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Edge
  • Other browsers (Internet Explorer, Safari, Brave, Opera, etc. may work in class but are not officially supported)
• An editor
  • Visual Studio Code is strongly preferred, but others are available
    • Check out some recommended extensions for VS Code.
  • WebStorm or IntelliJ, also by JetBrains
  • SublimeText, Emacs, Vi(m): if you like configuring your editor yourself
  • Notepad++, Atom, TextMate, etc.: if you can't install any of the above
  • Eclipse is not a viable choice. JavaScript support on Eclipse is a disaster.
  • Notepad is not a viable choice. It does not have enough features for you to be a productive developer
• Class source code. A GitHub repository for the class source code will be set up in time for class. It will include demos, labs, and other materials as appropriate.

Optional Software

These will make your development experience better.

Windows

• Command prompt: Cmder or Hyper

MacOS

• Terminal: iTerm2 or Hyper
• Shell: Fish or zsh, though bash is fine

Class-specific setup

Vue.js

• For Visual Studio Code, check out the Vue.js section in the VS Code setup doc.
• Vue.js devools