iOS Dev Setup: Clean it, prep it
Start with a clean slate, and add essentials: rvm, npm, homebrew
This post is part of an ongoing series on setting up an iOS development environment.
The last time I set up my iOS environment, my Mac had been used for years as a student machine. I had failed or partial installs for dozens of tutorials. I had SDKs for languages I was never going to touch again. Before I began setting up the environment, I cleaned up and cleared out all the old apps and installations that I could. If you are starting out with a shiny new machine or a fresh install, you can likely skip this first part.
Tabula Rosa
You’ll need to make your own decision on how seriously you want to clean your machine. Because I didn’t trust the integrity of installs done years prior when I was blissfully ignorant, I cleared out ruby, rvm, rbenv, gems, postegres, sqlite, node, javascript, and bundler. Cloning my hard drive before the cleaning process gave me a safety net incase I broke something. Once everything was removed, and I confirmed that the system was running and stable, I cloned again so that I’d have that clean slate to come back to if there was an issue with installations.
