2.0. Development Environment
When it comes to developing applications, and in particular web applications, the development environment can be a tricky and difficult place to start. Most developers, I know I do, just want to get straight into the code. However, without the right attention to the dev environment, it can become a frustrating experience.
In this chapter, the development tools and environment configurations to get this Angular 2 project going will be outlined step by step. Within the chapter, you will find the chapter 2.1. for Windows and 2.2. for Linux. This order, in no way, describes the preference this author has for operating systems. Where possible, it is advisable by myself, and many other developers online (seriously, just Google it and look at the comments on Quora and Stack Overflow), that you learn to develop applications in a UNIX-based operating system such as Linux or MacOS.
As I begrudgingly own a Windows-based laptop, as well as my regular Linux laptop, I am able to provide this guide in both Windows and Linux. This is also why I cannot provide a guide in MacOS. However, most commands in Linux can be run in the MacOS shell much the same way.
Before delving into the more in-depth requirements, firstly I would like to point out you are going to need an application to write your software code in. In this, there are more options that it is possible to describe, ranging from the very basic VIM in a shell to the more advanced Integrated Development Environments (IDE). Here, I will list just a few recommended editors for web application development for your perusal:
| Editor | Operating System | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| VIM | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free |
| Notepad++ | Windows, MacOS | Free |
| Sublime Text 3 | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free/Paid |
| Atom | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free |
| Brackets | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free |
| Adobe Dreamweaver CC and Muse CC | Windows, MacOS | Paid |
| Komodo | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free/Paid |
| Geany | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free |
| JetBrains WebStorm | Linux, Windows, MacOS | Free for Students/Paid |
| Cloud 9 | Web application | Free/Paid |
Personally, I use a multitude of these editors I have listed. My go to editor though is JetBrain's WebStorm. This is a full featured IDE with many extras for development. If you come from a development environment also using other JetBrain products such as PyCharm or Android Studio (fork of IntelliJ IDEA), then WebStorm will feel familiar to you. Additionally, I receive their products for free while I am a University student and am indebted and grateful to the developers of this product. I would not hesitate to pay for this product in the future, that's how much I enjoy developing applications within this IDE.
I also highly recommend Atom (Open Source project by GitHub), Sublime Text 3, and Brackets (Open Source project by Adobe) if you are looking for something a little more lightweight but with many features available via plugins.