Downloading VS Code, Node js, Git and Postman in Windows

Photo by Florian Krumm on Unsplash

This article is the first part of the “Creating a server using node and express” series.

Check out other articles in this series:

1. Part 1: Installing the required tools and software(Node, VS Code, Postman, Git).
2. Part 2: Initialize project with npm init in node

Intro:

In this age of digitization, you may have heard about something known as a ‘server’. Most of the websites we use work on the “client-server” model. These words may sound daunting at first, but they are based on a very simple principle. In this article, we will see what a server is and how can we create a very simple server to “serve” files to our apps.

Requirements: Level — beginner

1. Internet connection
2. Javascript basics
3. Computer

What we will be doing?

1. Intro to servers
2. Installing Node js
3. Installing VS Code
4. Installing Git
5. Installing Postman

If you’ve already installed the required files, head over to part 2 of this series.

What is a server?

Whenever you use a website, app or web service by typing in the domain name (eg. facebook.com, twitter.com) or opening an app, the browser or machine ‘requests’ the files from that domain.

A domain is nothing but an address that points to where the data or code of the website you want to use is stored. Traditionally, this data is stored on a machine known as a server. As the name suggests, a server does the job of ‘serving’’ or sending the ‘requested’ files back to the browser.

Due to this flow, you as a user, are able to see and interact with a website on the internet. Every time you perform an action on a website like clicking on a button or sending a message, you or your browser act as a client which receives the required information from the server.

This transaction is analogous with you (client) ordering (requesting) a burger (website) from Mcdonald's (server) and after an amount of time receiving your order (files).

Downloading the required software:

Let’s start by downloading the required software.

Node JS

Node js is a JavaScript runtime built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine which is designed to build scalable network applications.

Start by googling ‘Node JS download’ or simply go to https://nodejs.org/en/download/ to download the required file

Depending on your system (Windows, Mac or Linux), choose the required file to download.

I’m going to be using windows as my system of choice but feel free to use anything else.

After downloading click on the file and select all default options. Let the installation begin!

After you get this screen, click on finish and viola! Node Js has been installed on your device. On to next….

Note: The steps for downloading and installing Git, Postman and VS Code are similar, if you still need to check out the process scroll below.

2. VS Code

Visual Studio Code features a lightning-fast source code editor, perfect for day-to-day use. It helps in bringing out your ideas to life.

Start by googling ‘VS Code download’ or simply go to https://nodejs.org/en/download/ to download the required file.

Depending on your system (Windows, Mac or Linux), choose the required file to download.

After downloading click on the file and select all default options. Let the installation begin!

The setup wizard will give you a prompt as follows. This means VS Code has been successfully installed! Cheers

3. Git

As per the documentation, Git is a free and open-source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

Start by googling ‘Git download’ or simply go to https://git-scm.com/downloads to download the required file.

Depending on your system (Windows, Mac or Linux), choose the required file to download.

After downloading click on the file and click next by selecting all default options till you get the install window.

Click on install to let the installation begin

Click on Finish to complete the installation. Now, to the last software of the day: Postman.

4. Postman

Postman is an API platform for building and using APIs. Postman simplifies each step of the API lifecycle and streamlines collaboration so you can create better APIs — faster.

Start by googling ‘Postman download’ or simply go to https://www.postman.com/downloads/ to download the required file.

Depending on your system (Windows, Mac or Linux), choose the required file to download.

After downloading click on the file and click next by selecting all default options till you get the install window and click on install.

As I have Postman already installed on my PC, this is the window you will get once the installation is complete and the app is open.

Conclusion:

In this article, we have downloaded and installed the required tools needed to build the mini server.

Click here for part 2 of this article, where we initialize our project in vs code using npm init.

Cheers!

Sources:

1. VS Code
2. Git
3. Postman
4. Node js