How to Set Up a Dev Environment for JavaScript

Before we delve further into programming with JavaScript, you must set up a proper dev environment on your computer. Because in practice, programming involves much more than just printing messages using console.log(). You will be working with variables, statements, functions, objects, and various other programming concepts.

As a result, we cannot rely solely on the browser's JavaScript console to execute such complex tasks. Instead, you'll need to install a JavaScript runtime on your machine.

A JavaScript runtime is a software environment in which JavaScript code can be executed. This environment provides JavaScript with components and libraries that allow the code to be executed outside of a web browser.

The most commonly used JavaScript runtime would be Node.js. An open-source JavaScript runtime that is built on top of the V8 JavaScript engine, which is taken directly out of Google Chrome.

It provides a set of built-in components that allow you to create web apps, command-line tools, and even mobile apps using JavaScript. It is also compatible with all the major operating systems, enabling you to run JavaScript code anywhere you want.

There are other alternatives to Node.js, such as Deno and Bun. They all claim to be faster than the old-school Node.js. Especially Bun, which has been getting a lot of attention recently, but since they are relatively new to the game, there might be some compatibility issues. So for the course, let's stick to Node.js.

Besides Node.js, we'll also need npm, which stands for Node Package Manager. It is the default package manager for Node.js. It allows you to easily install, update, and manage third-party packages that can be used in your JavaScript project.

Depending on your operating system, there are many different ways to install Node.js and npm. The easiest and most beginner-friendly method would be downloading the installer from the official website.