Below is part of the information that we usually send out a few weeks befor class starts. Let me know if you have any questions.
Other than your brain, the most important tool you will use is your workstation. Making sure it is properly set up is extremely important. This is the reason we do the install party. Here are some things you'll need to make sure you have.
- Macbook Air or Pro running the latest OSX
- Clean up your machine. Those of you who have not started with a new machine, take some time to clean up your desktop and even your file system if possible.
- Make sure you always have your charging cable with you
Other than your text editor the program you will spend the most time in is the terminal. We will be using a program called iTerm 2. Go ahead and download the program but no need to install it yet. We will do that at our Install Party.
- Download iTerm 2 here (you will want the OS 10.7+ version)
The next big thing is to get familiar with your terminal. Take a moment and go through the following resources. Don’t worry if it is unclear, we’ll cover all of it, just make sure you have a basic understanding of what you are doing.
We will utilize version control for all of your work and specifically we will use Git. Don’t worry, we’ll show you how to get that installed on your machine. For now thought, take a look at the following resources and go ahead and sign up for a Github.com account if you don’t already have one.
There are many great text editors out there. We would prefer that you use one of the following and we will give you more detail as to why later.
We will be using Sublime Text 3 in class for most examples, but either will suffice. Atom is completely free which is why it is an option. Sublime Text 3 is free to use but you need to buy a license after class ends, when you start using it for commercial work. Also, ST3 will nag you to upgrade.