Software Prerequisites and Recommended Tools

Required/Recommended Software

• Required (mostly)

  • Bash

  • Java 1.8/8 or higher

    • You may already have this installed.
    • To verify you have the correct package installed, you can run the following command from a terminal or command prompt:
      • $ java -version
      • Hopefully you will see:
      • java version "1.8.0_102 or 1.8.x
    • If don't have 1.8/8 or higher, you can download Java 1.8/8 here: https://java.com/en/download/help/download_options.xml

  • Text Editor (Atom, http://atom.io)

    • Oxygen will also work as a text editor, but Atom is nice to have too.
    • If you install Atom, it is also nice to install the Shell Commands. See the image below
    • Some recommended Atom packages
      • https://atom.io/packages/jsonlint $ apm install jsonlint
      • https://atom.io/packages/pretty-json $ apm install pretty-json

    

• Highly Recommended
  • Node.js (https://nodejs.org/en/)
    • With node installed, it will be helpful to install either http-server or live-server
      • npm install -g live-server
      • npm install -g http-server
  • Python SimpleHTTPServer is also a workable alternative to http-server or live-server
  • Json formatter chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/json-formatter/bcjindcccaagfpapjjmafapmmgkkhgoa
    • this extension will format JSON files in your browser, giving you a nicer, navigable, JSON view experience.

Setting up a development environment.

• Workshop Directory

  • Create a directory called WorkshopDir.
  • We will be adding a few more folders as we go. But it will be helpful to use the same names throughout the workshop to identify our various directories and folders.

• Pro tip: create an alias so you can find your way back:

  • e.g. alias workshop="cd ~/Your/Path/To/WorkshopDir
  • You can add this to your ~/.bash_profile so that the alias persists between shells
  • Add the line alias workshop="cd ~/Your/Path/To/WorkshopDir" to your ~/.bash_profile

• Some useful bash commands:

  • pwd (present working directory, where am I?)
  • cd (change directory)
  • ls (list, list files in this directory)

• Some useful links:

  • Bash Cheat Sheet
  • Intro to Mac Command Line