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Getting set up for COMP1531
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1531-setup.md

Getting set up for COMP1531

Here are the steps you should follow to get started working on your own computer in COMP1531.

On all platforms

  1. Install VS Code

On Windows

  1. Install WSL by opening Powershell as an administrator then running wsl --install.
  2. Reboot.
  3. Open the newly added "Ubuntu" program, and follow its instructions to create your user account.
  4. Open VS Code and install the WSL extension.
  5. When it installs, choose to "Connect to WSL" and wait for it to download the Linux backend for VS Code.
  6. Open up a terminal in WSL for the following steps.

On MacOS

  1. Open VS Code and press Cmd+Shift+P, then type "path" into the command bar.
  2. Choose the option that says to add code to your PATH variable.
  3. When prompted, give it admin permissions.
  4. Run git in a terminal, and install the required packages if asked.

Again on all platforms

  1. Set up git following the instructions from lab01-git-basics.
  2. Once Git is set up, use the command listed here to install NVM, which will let you install a modern version of NodeJS.
  3. Restart your terminal, then run nvm install --lts.
  4. Check that it installed correctly by running node - you should see a prompt where you can type JS. Press Ctrl+D to exit.
  5. Set up your SSH keys if you haven't already
    • ssh-keygen -t ed25519
    • cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
    • Copy the output and add it to your SSH keys in your GitLab settings
  6. git clone your project to a location of your choice. Most people create a folder called "Source" in their home directory that they keep all their code in.
  7. Open the project by cding into its directory and running code . - this opens the entire folder rather than just individual files, meaning VS Code will be much better at giving you smart predictions and the like.

Other things you can do

  1. Enable auto-save in VS Code's settings.
  2. Install the ESLint extension to VS Code to get linting errors as you type. You should also search your settings for "ESLint format" and enable it, so that you can easily run eslint --fix simply by right clicking and choosing "Format document".

Make sure to enjoy your fancy new ultra-cool setup!

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