Setup
Web development is a lot easier if you have good tooling. There are three main things we’ll want to install and setup:
- Git (version control)
- Text Editor
- Text Editor Extensions
- Get Started
Git
Git is a version control system. It keeps track of one or more files and exactly how they look at a point it time i.e. when you commit them. As you make changes, this allows you to move backward and forward in time, think Microsoft Word’s “track changes” but much, much more powerful.
Why Use Git?
I addition to letting you recover old changes, restore deleted files, and try out alternate approaches on your site, git allows you to share your changes with other people. It also allows you to receive changes they have made to those files easily, and move forward with those changes and merge them into your repository if you choose.
Create a GitHub account
Sign up for GitHub. The only information that you need to provide is your email and a new password for GitHub. When you see a wall of survey questions, just scroll to the bottom and continue without answering.
Install GitHub Desktop
Download and install GitHub Desktop. While you can use GitHub completely from the website, GitHub Desktop will make using Git from your computer a lot easier.
Editors
Install VSCodium. If you are not using a package manager, go to the VSCodium Releases page and:
- If you are on Mac download VSCodium-darwin-x64-1.72.2.22289.zip for older Intel machines, or VSCodium-darwin-arm64-1.72.2.22289.zip for newer M series machines.
- If you are on Windows download VSCodiumSetup-x64-1.72.2.22289.exe or VSCodiumUserSetup-x64-1.72.2.22289.exe.
Text Editor Extensions
You might want to install a few extensions to teach your text editor a few new tricks and make it easier to use.
Get Started
Once you have the above setup, you’re ready to get started.