# Node.js

Ensure that a terminal (we prefer Git Bash) and Node.js are installed on your machine

# Git Bash

Git Bash is a terminal application that provides (among others) a BASH emulation to run Git from the command line
- The BASH emulation behaves just like the git command in LINUX and UNIX environments
Git Bash is part of the Git for Windows (opens new window) package
- We refer to Webdesign Essentials > Tools > Git(Hub) (opens new window) for installation instructions and more information
To check your version of Git for Windows, open a new Git Bash window and enter git --version

$ git --version
git version 2.39.1.windows.1
 
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TIP

If Git is already installed, you can update Git directly from within the terminal:

$ git update-git-for-windows
 
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# Node.js

Node.js is an open source server environment build on Chrome's V8 JavaScript engine
Node.js is free and runs on various platforms (Windows, Linux, Unix, Mac OS X)

# Install node.js

Go to https://nodejs.org/en/ (opens new window)
Download and install the latest LTS version (the left one) of Node
(Node updates almost weekly. By the time you read this, there is probably already a newer version available ...)

Install node.js

Follow the default settings when you install Node
To check your version, open a new Git Bash window and enter: node --version or node -v

$ node -v
v18.14.0
 
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REMARKS

In this course we don't write node scripts ourselves
We only use ready-made scripts like gulp and live-server
Besides node.js, two other packages have been installed:
- npm: or the node package manager for installing one of the 1.3 million open source packages (opens new window) for node
- npx: or the node package runner for running (executing) a locally installed package, which is beyond the scope of this course

# Install gulp-cli

Gulp is a toolkit for automating painful or time-consuming tasks in your development workflow, so you can stop messing around and really build something 😉
- We will use gulp later on in this course (ES6, jQuery, ...)
Install gulp-cli globally (i.e., such that it can be used in every folder/project on your computer):
- open a terminal window and enter npm i -g gulp-cli
- open a new Git Bash window and enter: gulp --version or gulp -v

$ gulp -v
CLI version: 2.3.0
Local version: Unknown
 
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# Install live-server

Live-server is a development server with live reload capability for HTML, CSS and JavaScript and files
Live-server only works for static sites (not for PHP, ...)
Install live-server globally:
- open a terminal window and enter npm i -g live-server
- open a new Git Bash window and enter: live-server --version or live-server -v

$ live-server -v
live-server 1.2.2
 
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Browse to the folder where your static site is stored and enter live-server, e.g.

live-server

Your site opens in the default browser on http://127.0.0.1:8080 (opens new window) (or http://localhost:8080 (opens new window))

TIP

You can run multiple live servers simultaneously by setting different ports for each website
-   `live-server` uses the default port 8080: `http://127.0.0.1:8080`
-   `live-server --port=3000` uses port 3000: `http://127.0.0.1:3000`
 
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