Required Tools and Technologies
Explore essential development tools and technologies required for Angular projects. Learn about Git for version control, Postman for API requests, Node.js for backend support, and helpful utilities like nvm to manage Node versions effectively while preparing for automated testing.
We'll cover the following...
Tools
Here’s a list of some tools that we’ll be using in this course. We already have them setup for you, so there is no need to worry about downloading anything new.
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Text editor and terminal: WWe’ll use Educative’s text editor to write code and the terminal to perform all command-line work.
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Git: Git is an open-source version control system that tracks changes in source code and coordinates teamwork on these files. We’ll use Git to push our code to Github and clone (or download) existing code repositories that other developers have created. We’ll cover this in the next chapter. The terminal widget below has Git installed. Verify that by running the following command:
git --version
Note: Refer to the appendix for instructions on installing Git on Windows.
- Postman: This is a GUI tool we’ll use to make requests to our API without writing actual code. We’ll explore the finer details of Postman later. To check if Postman is working, run the widget below. After a few seconds, the Postman should run in the output tab.
Below is the expected terminal output.
- Robo 3T: This provides us with a GUI for viewing the data we’ll create in our database. To verify that the Robo 3t is working, run the widget below. After a few seconds, Robo3t will run in the output tab. We should see an output similar to the one shown below in the first slide. Select “I agree” and click next. Leave the form (shown in the second slide) blank and click finish.
Below are the slides for the expected terminal output.
Technologies
- Node.js: The first thing we need is Node.js. We have this installed and ready to use as well. Verify that everything has been installed correctly by running the following command in the widget below:
node -v
We should see an output similar to v12.x.x. Verify that npm has been installed along with Node by running a similar command:
npm -v
Again, we should see an output along the lines of 6.x.x.
- nvm: Finally, we need nvm, a handy tool for managing and using multiple Node.js versions on one computer. If you happen to be working on multiple projects, each using a different version of Node, nvm will let you easily switch between them, reducing any friction in development. Verify that nvm has been installed along with Node and npm by running a similar command:
nvm -v
We should see an output along the lines of 0.x.x.