Full Stack - 1.1 - Setting up the environment

What is an Environment ?

An environment contains the resources required for developing an application, both at the software and hardware levels.

Hardware

A personal computer with at least 8GB of RAM, an Intel i5 equivalent processor, and 256GB of storage is essential.

Software

A Linux-based operating system with basic command line tools enabled is necessary. It is advisable for software developers to use Linux, as it is lightweight, open-source, and developer-friendly.

To dig deeper, here is what you need to set up on your personal computer:

System Level Setup:

1. Install Node.js and a package manager (e.g., npm).


2. Set up a code editor (e.g., Visual Studio Code) and version control (e.g., Git).


3. Set up Docker.


4. Set up Git.


5. Setup Postgres.

Installing Node Js

Our application development is with React and Node, so both relies on node. In this step we will setup node in our machine

Steps to Set Up Node.js Using NVM (Node Version Manager)

We are using NVM to setup node because setting up only node from its official website allows you to setup specific versions of node, whereas when we use NVM it allows to switch between node versions locally and manage different versions of node in the system.

Install NVM:

1. Open your terminal.


2. For macOS or Linux, run the following command to download and install NVM:
   

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.5/install.sh | bash

Load NVM:

FAQ in this section

1. How to open a terminal ?


2. What to do if i don't have a linux based machine ?