A good craftperson needs reliable tools. Let's get you set up and going. I have opinions, and as a person who has been coding for a while, I think I have pretty good opinions on what tools you should use. That said, I will give you a few options and you can choose. If you know what you are doing, feel free to stick with what you know. If you don't, I suggest at least for this class use the tools I am using and then later revisit what tools you're using.
The Code Editor
Recommended: Visual Studio Code
It's a lovely tool that's free, has a great ecosystem of plugins, and works well across many platforms. I strongly suggest getting started here with VS Code.
The Browser
Recommended: Google Chrome
The standard at the moment for web development. It has great dev tools and is the number one most used browser in the world. Lots of great developer-focused extensions
Alternatives:
- Firefox - Honestly, it's a great browser and in my opinion just as good as Chrome. Very valid choice here. I'm showing you Chrome because it is the industry standard and this course is about showing you the tools that best prepare you to be the best coder and not enforce my opinions.
The Resources
Something really important is that you choose to learn from good sources. Just like it's important to get your news from quality sources, it's important to get your technical information from sound sources. Here are some of my personal favorites:
- For anything to do with HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, Mozilla's MDN is my go-to. I literally have it open all the time.
- CSS Tricks has fashioned itself into a premier development website. It has great content not just for CSS but for HTML and JavaScript too. If I want a tutorial, I'll head there. If I want more technical how-to info, I head to MDN.
- If I'm working with a library or a framework, it's a good idea to head directly to their GitHub (we'll talk about GitHub later) page or their official documentation. It's best to head straight to the source.
