In this module, we will walk through the process of setting up your Windows 10 local development environment.
Note: If you are not using a Windows computer for this course, skip the lessons in this module.
A software environment describes the set of tools that work together to enable you to develop and execute the code that you write. Environments typically include the operating system, databases, programming languages, and related tools like text editors or browsers.
You may hear us use the term "software environment" and "machine" to mean similar things. A machine describes the physical hardware that your software environment runs on. You'll hear the term machine and computer used interchangeably. Different machines (like PCs and Macs) use different hardware to run the programs that they use. Differences in those machines mean that setting up your development environment on one type of machine could look much different than setting it up on another.
To work around some of the differences between machines, and specifically between operating systems, we recommend that all students whose computers come pre-installed with the Windows operating system use a tool called Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Windows Subsystem for Linux provides a Linux-based environment for interfacing with and developing on a Windows operating system.
Linux is a family of operating systems that share the same core operating system programs. Operating systems based on Linux are very commonly used in professional software engineering settings. Learning how to use a Linux-based operating system will be a valuable skill for your future software engineering career.
The version, or distribution, of Linux that you will use is called Ubuntu. It is one of the leading Linux distributions and has great support with Windows Subsystem for Linux. There are others like Debian and Fedora, and those should work similarly.
The advantage of using Windows Subsystem for Linux is that it's highly integrated into Windows 10, works on most machines that support Windows 10, and only needs to be enabled and configured.
The first version of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 1) was groundbreaking! It translates commands that you run with Linux into commands that Windows can understand. For this course, we'll use the second version of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL 2). The first version had some compatibility issues and was slower compared to native Windows.
You may be familiar with opening files and applications on your computer by clicking icons, or viewing a website by typing an address into the address bar and seeing what pops up. These graphical user interfaces (GUIs) created a revolution in computing and are still extremely helpful in getting work done for many non-technical computer users.
Before graphical user interfaces (GUIs), the way to tell the computer to do
something was through a terminal. The terminal included a screen, which
would display only text, and a keyboard. The screen and keyboard were connected
to a computer, and you type into the keyboard what you wanted the computer to do.
Then, you press <Enter> and would wait for the computer to finish.
Terminals are still used frequently today, especially in software development. We can connect to another computer on the internet, give it instructions by typing in commands, and view the result on our screen. The way that modern computers emulate the terminals of yesterday is through a program called a command-line interface, or a shell.
Similar to operating systems, there are many different types of shells. The shell that Flatiron School supports on the Ubuntu operating system is called bash, short for Bourne Again Shell.
Before we get to bash, however, we need to do some work in the "Command Prompt", which is the built-in shell on Windows computers.
The "Command Prompt" application is a text-based way to browse and work with your computer files. We will only be using the "Command Prompt" application at the beginning of the environment setup. For now, let's start to see what "Command Prompt" and more generally, shells can do.
To complete the environment setup, you will need to be able to open applications. You can open new applications by using the search bar at the bottom of your screen. The search bar says, "Type here to search".
The "File Explorer" application is a visual way to browse the files on your computer. You may already be familiar with the "File Explorer" application. This application allows you to quickly see the files on your desktop, downloads, documents, pictures, music, videos, and much more.
- Click on the "Start" menu search bar
- Type "File Explorer" and open the application
- Find and open the "OneDrive" folder located on the left-hand side in your "File Explorer"
The "Command Prompt" application is the terminal that will allow us to interface with our computer through a shell. This action item is to primarily get you comfortable running commands in any shell so that you can work through the environment setup on your own.
- Click on the "Start" menu search bar
- Type "Command Prompt" and open the application
- Type
cd /Usersinto the terminal and press<Enter> - Type
dirinto the terminal and press<Enter> - Look for your username in the list
- Type
cdinto the terminal, add a space, and type your name as it appears in the list and press<Enter> - Type
dirinto the terminal and press<Enter> - Look for the "OneDrive" folder in the list
- Type
cd OneDriveinto the terminal and press<Enter> - Type
dirinto the terminal and press<Enter>
If you were able to open your OneDrive folder in the "File Explorer" application and you
were able to open the "Command Prompt" application and cd to the same folder,
you should see the same list of files and folders in both the graphical user interface (GUI)
and in the command-line interface (CLI) or shell.
This may be your first time using the "Command Prompt" or any terminal or shell. Now you know how to see the items in a particular folder through the "File Explorer" and through the "Command Prompt". This step is to get you familiar with using a terminal to be able to complete the environment setup.
- During the environment setup, you will be spending a lot of time in the "Ubuntu" application.
- As much as possible, copy and paste commands that we ask you to run there instead of typing by hand to help prevent environment setup issues.
- Specific keys that you need to press will be surrounded by
<>(for example,<Shift>,<Space>,<Enter>). - You will need to be comfortable switching between windows; we will primarily be using the browser and the "Ubuntu" application.
- You should be able to start and stop the environment setup.
- If you get stuck, reach out to your classmates or an instructor.