Your environment

Every class assumes you have a working environment: a shell, Git, an editor, and a way to run servers on localhost.

Goals for this sessionCopy Anchor Link

• Install Git and configure your identity.
• Choose one shell and learn the fifteen commands you will use daily.
• Create a project directory that is backed up to GitHub from day one.

A safe-to-break setupCopy Anchor Link

The fastest way to learn is to break things on purpose. On this program we prefer:

1. Containers for dependencies — databases and queues run in containers so docker compose down resets a corrupted state instantly.
2. Git from the first commit — commit a meaningless change on day one so git checkout . becomes a real skill.
3. A public repository — your project lives on GitHub in the open from the start; that is your portfolio seed.

Daily shell commandsCopy Anchor Link

pwd             # where am I
ls -la          # what is here
cd ~/learn      # move
mkdir -p app/api
git status      # what changed
git add -A      # stage everything (in a scratch repo! careful otherwise)
git commit -m "message"
git push
node --version  # check the toolchain

Prefer git add -A only in scratch repositories; in real projects stage files intentionally.

HomeworkCopy Anchor Link

Create learn/dotfiles and a README.md, commit it, and push to a new GitHub repository. Return to the next class with the link pasted into your project.