Configuring the development environment

Install Node.js

The Node.js Official Website describes various ways to install Node.js, but we recommend using nvm to install Node.js, as this is a very convenient way to switch between different versions of Node.js.

Install nvm

The installation of nvm is easy, just execute a shell script, the latest version of nvm is v0.37.2:

$ curl -o- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh> | bash
# or via wget
$ wget -qO- <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.37.2/install.sh> | bash

Of course, the safest way is to copy the latest official shell script: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm#install--update-script

After installing nvm, either reboot the terminal or execute the following script for the nvm command to take effect:

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \\. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"  # This loads nvm
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \\. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"  # This loads nvm bash_completion

Install Node.js of LTS version

After installing nvm, we can install Node.js, we recommend installing the latest LTS version:

$ nvm install --lts

Use the node -v command to view the installed version of Node.js.

Install ABT Node

After completing the installation of Node.js, you can install ABT Node:

$ npm install -g @abtnode/cli

After installation, you can run abtnode --version to see the current version.

Install VSCode

Although there are many editors/IDEs, we recommend VS Code, VS Code is probably the best editor in the JavaScript ecosystem to use for developing JavaScript/Node.js applications. It is ready to use right out of the box.

Installation is also very easy, as the website provides installation packages for Windows/Mac/common Linux distributions that can be installed with a single click: https://code.visualstudio.com/#alt-downloads