Preface Materials: Linux
As this book was written on the assumption that you have no experience with Git or the command line, it also assumes you do not have necessary materials (software). Downloads will differ slightly depending on it you have a Mac or a PC and if you are running Linux. The following will provide necessary materials to use this book as well as links and some relevant instructions for those who are using Linux.
Please note that I have no experience with using Linux. These instructions will likely be superficial and without detail. I simply provide you with links; I am currently not able to provide information on how to install software correctly.
A Text Editor.
In order to edit files as demonstrated in this book, you will need a text editor outside of the basic default editor. Any editor will work such as Sublime Text 15 which has a Linux download.
If you are already familiar with an editor or if you like a particular one, use it! However, I personally prefer Visual Studio (VS) Code 16 which can be downloaded at the previous link (there is a Linux download). Throughout this book, I will refer to VS Code with some guidelines on how to find certain features. Should you decide to use another editor, it is up to you to learn how to use it. If you are a beginner with Git and the command line, I would stick with VS Code although as you gain experience you might think about switching to Sublime Text.
Git.
To use Git, you need to download and install it on your computer. You already have a command line, you just need to make sure that you have Git. Depending on your computer and where you got it, you may actually already have Git (for instance, university laptops). You can install Git for Linux from the many options at the GitHub download page 17 .
GitHub.
You will also need a GitHub account. Since this is an extensive topic, this is covered in Subsection 3.1.1.
