Prep: Intro

Overview

Assignments for this class will use a variety of development tools and a variety of accounts with web-based services. Two in particular will be used for virtually every assignment and activity:

• a GitHub account, which will be used to get code for assignments, submit work for assignments, and, often, for feedback on work;
• Visual Studio Code, a powerful editor/IDE.

Today's "studio prep" is about ensuring that you have the proper accounts and have started to setup the tools needed.

GitHub

According to GitHub,

• "GitHub is how people build software" and
• "We’re supporting a community where more than 27 million people learn, share, and work together to build software."

The team-based, distributed approach to software development that is supported by tools like GitHub is a fundamental part of contemporary software development.

GitHub Account

If you used GitHub in CSE132 you can skip this step. You already have an account that's setup as needed.

1. Go to GitHub and either create an account or log in to your current account.
2. Once you are logged in, go to your account settings:
   
3. Select the e-mail tab and verify that your account is associated with your WUSTL e-mail account. If not, add your WUSTL e-mail address and accept the confirmation request.
   

Visual Studio Code

VSCode is a powerful, multi-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) that supports "Extensions". Extensions allow VSCode to be customized for new purposes.

Later in the semester we'll be using a small Arduino-like processor called the Argon. The Argon was developed by Particle. Part of our work will utilize Particle's cloud-based IDE, but we'll also use their extension for VSCode.

Install VSCode

Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/, download, and install.