Install Software

At Dev Academy you'll be using specific tools every day: a terminal (AKA: command line), a text editor (the application you will use to write your code) and Git (which we'll use to save our code and collaborate with each other). You'll also need a web browser of course - for consistency we suggest you use Google Chrome. We'll be installing the following:

1. A command line tool:
   • Mac: Terminal or iTerm2. Terminal works perfectly well. iTerm2 adds some additional functionality and customisation options.
   • Windows: Windows Terminal using Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
   • Linux: Terminal
2. A code/text editor: Visual Studio Code

Note about Text Editors: Visual Studio Code, or VS Code for short, is what we recommend students use as a text editor. Developers write code locally on their computer via a text editor before pushing it up onto the web. Other popular text editors include Sublime and Atom.

There is nothing "magical" about these text editors. You could (if you wanted to have a really frustrating time) write all of your code in a text editor like Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac). Computer code is really just plain text! However, text editors like Visual Studio are designed for writing code, and come with tools to make the process much easier.

Please do not use Microsoft Word for programming. It is not a text editor. MS Word is a word processor and its output is not plain text and will cause problems if you try and use it to write computer code.

Note about Github Desktop: Github Desktop is an GUI (graphical user interface) application that can be used to work with git, but we will not it for this course. We work from the command line and you will need to understand how to work with Git from there. By using the command line you will learn how it functions and how to get the result you want.

Computer Set-Up Instructions

Follow these instructions to set up your computer for Foundations and Bootcamp. This does require working with the command line. If you're not feeling confident, you can discuss it with a Facilitator and find a time to work through it together.

If you get stuck and need help, go to the Discord #computer-setup channel. Create a thread and identify what number you're stuck on (e.g 2.3), what problem solving you've already tried, and screenshots of the issue.

Suggested Workflow

As you'll be using the command line, VS Code and the browser every day, we have a suggested workflow for you that will help you manage the programmes you'll be interacting with.

When it comes to programming, maximising your screen real estate is crucial. Ideally, you want to be running applications full screen, and be able to easily move between them.

If you have an external monitor, having VS Code open fullscreen in front of you, with your browser and terminal split screen over your external monitor is a great set up. Learning some trackpad gestures or keyboard shortcuts will make your life a whole lot easier too.

Below are some OS specific methods of creating virtual desktop screens, which you can use for keeping your applications full screen and easily cycle through them - getting the most out of your screen real estate when using a single monitor and making your work more efficient.

Mac

You can create 'spaces' (virtual desktop screens) out of each programme by clicking the green expand button in the top left of the application. You can organise the order of these screens when pressing F3 and dragging them into the order you like at the top. To create another copy of your desktop screen you can select the plus button to the right. To navigate between spaces, you can:

• Use a swiping gesture (3 or 4 fingers) across your trackpad (the setting for how many fingers you need to use will be under System Preferences > Trackpad > More Gestures > Swipe between full-screen apps)
• Use control + left arrow or control + right arrow
• Alternatively, use command + tab (and command + shift + tab) to cycle through open applications.

Windows

Your work should be saved into the devacademy folder you created during Step 6 of the computer set-up instructions. You can easily access this folder by opening your Windows Terminal and typing the following:

cd ~/devacademy

Within your devacademy folder you can create as many subfolders as you like to organise your work.

You can create many Virtual Desktops and run applications full screen on each of them.

To add a virtual desktop, open up the Task View pane by clicking the Task View button (two overlapping rectangles) on the taskbar, or by pressing the Windows Key + Tab. In the Task View pane, click "New desktop" to add a virtual desktop. If you have two or more desktops already open, the "Add a desktop" button will appear as a gray tile with a plus symbol. You can also quickly add a desktop without entering the Task View pane by using the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + Ctrl + D.

To switch between virtual desktops, open the Task View pane and click on the desktop you want to switch to. You can also quickly switch desktops without going into the Task View pane by using the keyboard shortcuts Windows Key + Ctrl + Left Arrow and Windows Key + Ctrl + Right Arrow.

You can add an unlimited number of virtual desktops.

Linux (Ubuntu)

You can create multiple 'workspaces', which act like virtual desktops.

In the Activities overview (open by clicking the activities button or with the windows key), move your cursor to the right-most side of the screen. A vertical panel (called the workspace selector) will expand showing workspaces in use, plus an empty workspace.

To add a workspace, drag and drop a window from an existing workspace onto the empty workspace in the workspace selector. This workspace now contains the window you have dropped, and a new empty workspace will appear below it.

To remove a workspace, simply close all of its windows or move them to other workspaces.

You can easily cycle through these workspaces using alt + ctrl + up arrow/down arrow or using the windows key to open the workspace selector and clicking on the workspace you want.