M1 Mac Developer Setup

Photo by James Harrison on Unsplash

Setting up your brand new computer can be stressful. However, it should be an easy, fun, and light task for developers to get you ready for development.

The first step is to take a breath and follow this fantastic step-by-step tutorial.

Step 0:

This step might seem obvious to some of you, but for my beginners, make sure that you are the admin on the computer you are setting up.

Step 1:

Download Visual Studio Code as your code editor. For the M1 Mac, you will need to install Apple Silicon Zip.

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

Make sure that Visual Studio Code is inside your application folder.

Step 2:

A good developer is constantly in touch with the tech community. A useful tool that a lot of communities and companies use is Slack.

Click on the download button to download Slack and create an account.

Mac | Downloads

Step 3:

The first thing you need to install inside the terminal is the Apple Developer Tools.

Paste and run this command on the terminal to install Apple Developer Tools:

sudo xcode-select --install

Step 4:

Now it is time to pimp your terminal with Oh My Zsh! Oh My Zsh is an open-source framework for managing your Zsh configuration, themes, and plugins.

Oh My Zsh — a delightful & open source framework for Zsh

Paste and run this command on the terminal to install Oh My Zsh:

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

After running the command, your terminal will change colors, and it will be easier to work inside the terminal.

Step 5:

A vital tool that most developers use is Homebrew because it makes installing software easier.

Homebrew

Paste and run this command on the terminal to install Homebrew:

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

Once you run the command, it will ask you to press RETURN to continue.

Make sure to follow the Next Steps, where you add Homebrew to your PATH.

Once you run the two last commands, Homebrew will be installed.

Step 6:

Another essential tool for development is GitHub. GitHub allows developers to work collaboratively, and it also saves your code outside of your laptop.

Create an account:

https://github.com/

Install GitHub command-line tool by pasting the following command:

brew install gh

Login to your account through the terminal by pasting this code:

gh auth login

Step 7:

Install Yarn to ensure that your future project’s dependencies are under control.

Paste this command inside your terminal to install Yarn:

brew install yarn

Step 8:

It’s essential to download Node.js because it allows you to run JavaScript outside of the browser.

It’s important to download the latest current version at least 16.9.1.

https://nodejs.org/en/download/current/

Conclusion:

Horray! Now you are ready to start coding and creating unique projects. Remember, have fun with it, and as my mentor Todd H. Albert, Ph.D. would say: ‘Trust the process!’

Photo by Timothy Dykes on Unsplash