New Coder Hard At Work

Code under Construction? Let’s start off discussing the tools you’ll need.

One of the first (and most important) tools you will need if you plan on being a competent coder is the Text Editor. This is the software you use to manage the text of your code. There are some things to consider when comparing different software, but the decision seems to boil down to personal preference. One of the things I enjoy about text editors is that they remind me to close my brackets. This functionality is called code completion and it is standard (and a lifesaver) on most text editors. If you find one without, it’s probably worth moving along to an option like Visual Studio Code.

Some of the other important functions you should want in your text editor are:

• Syntax Highlighting color codes your text to assist in writing and debugging code.
• Different color Theme options to reduce the strain on the coder’s eyes.
• Extensions can open up new coding languages as well as help transition your code between Web Browsers or Operating Systems (if you’re working on applications).
• Easy addition of files, folders, and extensions for your product. (Larger projects can create a mess of different storages for different assets)

This functionality (and more) can be found in IDEs (Integrated Development Environments). IDEs have text editors as well as file management, debugging and may be useful as you gain experience and education.

(Photo by Irvan Smith on Unsplash)

If you’re not wanting to find a text editor online, it is possible to achieve the same product using an application like word or notepad. You lose many of the functions and “safety-nets” listed above, but it is doable. Simply ensure you are coding in plain text. This is a setting that removes formatting options for the text such as bold or italics etc., These options can negatively impact the code you are trying to write and it is important to have them off.

The second tool found most useful to those in software development is known by a few names. The Terminal, Command Line, or Power Shell (for us recent Window 11 converts). No matter the name or operating system they all do the same basic thing. Allowing coding access into the innerworkings of your computer.

They are intimidating at first but with time you can learn to read and use the terminal with utter ease. Here are a few simple commands you can use within your own system now.

• pwd - gives current directory location
• ls - lists all visible files within a directory
  • ls -a - lists all files (even those hidden)
• cd - moves the user to the home directory
  • cd .. takes you up one level cd ... two levels, etc.,
  • cd file/directoryname will take you directly to a file or directory
• cat filename - creates a file in the current directory with whatever you put as the filename
• clear - clears all the current information from screen

(Caveat - any filenames with spaces must be placed within quotes ex. ‘Class Photos’) Linux is also case sensative so pay attention to copy the filename exactly as written in your directory.

There are many other commands but you must be careful if you are tinkering around in the terminal with no training. It is possible to do damage to the pathing and files stored within your harddrive.

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