Install-fest Phase One



For the first phase of "install-fest", we'll install or verify the installation of the following tools on our machines:

  • Slack
  • Zoom
  • Homebrew
  • Xcode
  • VS Code
  • Git / Github / Github Enterprise
  • Global Gitignore
  • Spectacle
  • Imgur




PLEASE NOTE: if you have a linux machine, here are some resources that might be more ideal for your computer

Slack

We'll use slack to communicate throughout the course.
By the time you are reading this, you should have received an invite to the relevant channels via e-mail.
Although you can login via the web browser, downloading / installing the app is highly recommended.



Zoom

Download the Zoom client and install it.

Download Slack

Remember to drag the Slack app into the Applications folder when you open the downloaded archive.



Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager that we will use to install various command line tools in our class.

Open up terminal, and paste the following command to install Homebrew. You might be prompted to install XCode Command Line Tools during the install process.

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

If you are prompted to install the XCode CLI, say yes and your homebrew installation will continue.

After the installation process, run the command brew doctor. If any warnings or errors are displayed, we will need to resolve them before proceeding with the rest of the install fest.

Lastly, make sure to run brew update to make sure you have the latest lists of available software.



Xcode

We do not use Xcode in class but some other applications that we do use require some Xcode libraries. Normally, all you need is the Xcode CLI which should have already been installed when you installed Homebrew. If it didn't get installed, you can use this command:

xcode-select --install

If you need to, you can install Xcode through the App Store. (You probably don't need to.) Link here



Visual Studio Code

Text editors are a personal choice. One of the most popular open source text editors these days, for good reason, is Visual Studio Code.

Note: VS Code's keyboard shortcuts are different than the shortcuts used by the Sublime or Atom editors. If you already know Sublime's shortcuts and don't want to learn those of VS Code, it's possible to configure VS Code to use Sublime's.

Download and install VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com/.

Important: Be sure that VS Code is in your Mac's Applications folder.



Add Ability to Launch VS Code by typing code

  1. Launch VS Code using spotlight (command + space - then start typing vs c until you see the app, then press enter).
  2. Type shift + command + P to open the command palette.
  3. Start typing shell command and when you the
    Shell Command: Install 'code' command in PATH command - click it!
  4. Quit VS Code and Terminal.
  5. Relaunch Terminal
  6. You should now be able to open a folder to edit by typing code .

Check this link for troubleshooting if you run into issues.



Git

Git is the version control software we will be using - it's extremely popular.

You should have already installed Git as instructed to complete the pre-work.

If it's not installed, we can use Homebrew to install it:

brew install git


Github

Github provides a way to host Git repos in the cloud. It enables collaboration and is wildly popular.

You should have already opened a personal Github account, however, you need to have a General Assembly Github Enterprise account as well.
You can get one by signing up here: https://git.generalassemb.ly/join



Configuring a Global git ignore

Everyone should have a global git ignore file so that you don’t have to worry about making the appropriate entries in a project’s git ignore.

First, create the file: touch ~/.gitignore_global

Next, configure git to use this file: git config --global core.excludesfile ~/.gitignore_global

Finally, lets put some good stuff in there:

# This is a list of rules for ignoring files in every Git repositories on your computer.
# See https://help.github.com/articles/ignoring-files

# Compiled source #
###################
*.class
*.com
*.dll
*.exe
*.o
*.so

# Packages #
############
# it's better to unpack these files and commit the raw source
# git has its own built in compression methods
*.7z
*.dmg
*.gz
*.iso
*.jar
*.rar
*.tar
*.zip

# Logs and databases #
######################
*.log

# OS generated files #
######################
._*
.DS_Store
.DS_Store?
.Spotlight-V100
.Trashes
ehthumbs.db
Thumbs.db

# Testing #
###########
.rspec
capybara-*.html
coverage
pickle-email-*.html
rerun.txt
spec/reports
spec/tmp
test/tmp
test/version_tmp

# node #
########
node_modules

# Rails #
#########
**.orig
*.rbc
*.sassc
.project
.rvmrc
.sass-cache
/.bundle
/db/*.sqlite3
/log/*
/public/system/*
/tmp/*
/vendor/bundle


# Ruby #
########
*.gem
*.rbc
.bundle
.config
.yardoc
_yardoc
doc/
InstalledFiles
lib/bundler/man
pkg
rdoc
tmp

# for a library or gem, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
# intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
# Gemfile.lock
# .ruby-version
# .ruby-gemset

# CTags #
#########
tags

# Env #
#######
.env

# Python #
#######
*.pyc
__pycache__/


Installing Spectacle

Install Spectacle for resizing windows.

This free "productivity" tool is invaluable when it comes to minimizing the time spent sizing windows using the mouse.



Installing Imgur

Create an account on imgur.com and install mac2imgur to ease uploading screenshots and other images from your computer to your imgur account.