Development Environment Setup Guide

This guide walks you through installing and configuring the tools needed for the workshop.
By the end, you should be able to use VS Code with Bash, Python 3.14, Node.js, Docker, and Git/GitHub.

Table of Contents

0. End Goal (Checklist)
1. Install Visual Studio Code
2. Enable Bash Terminal in VS Code
   • macOS / Linux
   • Windows (Recommended: WSL2)
3. Install Git and Configure It
4. Create a GitHub Account & Sign In from VS Code
5. Install Python 3.14
   • macOS / Linux / WSL (pyenv)
   • Windows (Non-WSL Option)
6. Install Node.js
   • macOS / Linux / WSL (nvm)
   • Windows (Non-WSL Option)
7. Install Docker
8. Configure VS Code Interpreters
9. Final Workshop Readiness Test
10. Additional Resources and Exercises

0. End Goal (Checklist)

Inside VS Code, you should be able to:

• Open a project folder
• Open a Bash terminal
• Run the following commands successfully:

  python --version     # Python 3.14.x
  node -v
  npm -v
  docker --version
  git --version

1. Install Visual Studio Code

1. Download and install Visual Studio Code. https://code.visualstudio.com/download

2. Open VS Code and install the following extensions:

   • Python (Microsoft)
   • Docker (Microsoft)
   • GitHub Pull Requests and Issues (GitHub)

2. Enable Bash Terminal in VS Code

macOS / Linux

Bash (or Zsh) is already installed.

In VS Code:

• Go to Terminal → New Terminal

• If needed: Terminal → Select Default Profile → Bash

Windows (Recommended: WSL2)

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

2. Restart your computer when prompted.
3. Launch Ubuntu from the Start Menu and complete setup.
4. Install VS Code if not already installed.
5. In VS Code, install the WSL extension (Microsoft).
6. From the Ubuntu terminal:

code .

This opens VS Code connected to WSL with a real Bash terminal.

3. Install Git and Configure It

macOS

xcode-select --install

Ubuntu / WSL / Linux

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git

Windows (non-WSL)

Install Git for Windows (includes Git Bash) - https://git-scm.com/install/windows

Configure Git (Windows and macOS)

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

Verify:

git --version

4. Create a GitHub Account & Sign In from VS Code

1. Create a GitHub account on github.com if you do not have one already.

2. In VS Code:

   • Open the Accounts menu (bottom-left) or Command Palette
   • Search for GitHub: Sign in

3. Authorize VS Code in the browser.

5. Install Python 3.14

macOS (Recommended: pyenv)

1. Install Xcode Command Line Tools:

   xcode-select --install

2. Install Homebrew (if not already installed):

   /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

3. Install Python build dependencies:

   brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib tcl-tk libffi

4. Install pyenv:

   curl https://pyenv.run | bash

5. Restart your terminal, then install Python 3.14:

   pyenv install 3.14.0
   pyenv global 3.14.0
   python --version

Linux / WSL (Ubuntu – Recommended: pyenv)

1. Install dependencies:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev \
  libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm libncursesw5-dev \
  xz-utils tk-dev libxml2-dev libxmlsec1-dev libffi-dev liblzma-dev

2. Install pyenv:

   curl https://pyenv.run | bash

3. Restart your terminal, then install Python 3.14:

   pyenv install 3.14.0
   pyenv global 3.14.0
   python --version

Windows (Non-WSL Option)

1. Download the official Python installer. Note: you can do this install via the Microsoft store if you have it on your desktop already.
2. During installation, ensure “Add Python to PATH” is checked.

Verify:

python --version

6. Install Node.js

macOS / Linux / WSL (Recommended: nvm)

Install nvm:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

Restart your terminal, then install Node.js:

nvm install --lts
node -v
npm -v

Windows (Non-WSL Option)

Install the Node.js LTS installer.

Verify:

node -v
npm -v

7. Install Docker

macOS / Windows

Install Docker Desktop:

• for mac users: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/setup/install/mac-install/
• for windows users: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/setup/install/windows-install/

Launch Docker Desktop and complete setup.

Verify in terminal:

docker --version
docker run hello-world

Ubuntu / WSL Note

For Windows users, Docker works best by enabling WSL integration in Docker Desktop.

8. Configure VS Code Interpreters

1. Open a project folder in VS Code.
2. Open the terminal (Terminal → New Terminal).
3. Run:

python --version
node -v
docker --version
git --version

If Python is not detected:

• Open Command Palette → Python: Select Interpreter
• Choose Python 3.14

9. Final Workshop Readiness Test

Run the following in the VS Code terminal:

python --version
node -v
npm -v
git --version
docker --version

Each command should return a version number with no errors.

10. Additional Resources and Exercises

How to use the command line (bash) https://github.com/cogeorg/teaching/wiki/Terminal

Using git version control https://github.com/IscoRuta/fse-tutorials/tree/main/Tutorial_1#readme