This post will go over the bare minimum tools to install to begin your development journey. As always there are all kinds of alternatives that could be used. This site will be opinionated and suggest specific tools to help beginners avoid the fatigue of searching for the right tool.

Text Editor / Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

This is one of the most important tools in a developer’s toolkit. It is also a highly contentious issue amongst more advanced developers. At this stage in the process, avoid the drama and install Visual Studio Code.

Once installed, it is recommended that any file editing you do, you should do within VS Code.

Folder Organization

Early on and throughout your time coding, you will start and abandon a large number of projects. It quickly becomes overwhelming to remember where your projects are located. I recommend maintaining a folder in your home directory called proj/ or code/. Anytime you start a new project, add a new folder in here to store. As it starts filling up, you can add more organization to make it easier to see the projects you are actively working on.

Version Control - Git

Version control software keeps track of changes made to your code. As you make changes to your code, a version control system allows you to effectively save the current state of your codebase. This is an immensely powerful tool and an essential thing to learn for any kind of programmer.

Git is the most widely used software and will be an entire topic of its own in the future. For now, install Github Desktop as a user friendly way to interact with git.