Requirements

There are a few technical requirements before we start.

1. Git
2. Node.js and NPM
3. Code editor

Git

Git is version control system, which is used for some other dependencies. Also it has some utilities, like Git Bash.

Maybe Git may already be installed. To find out, open a terminal and enter:

git --version

There are several ways to install Git. Check it out in the tutorial Install Git

Windows OS

There are other options for Windows:

• Installer for Windows .
• Git for Windows .

Node.js and NPM

Another dependency is NPM, which comes bundled with Node.js.

To check if you have node already installed, enter this command into your terminal:

node --version
npm --version

This is the result in a Windows OS:

If there's no output like the one above, here's how to install it on Ubuntu, Mac OSX and Windows.

Linux

sudo apt update
sudo apt install curl git
sudo apt install build-essential # We need this to build native dependencies
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install nodejs

Mac OS

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.35.2/install.sh | bash
nvm install 12
nvm use 12
nvm alias default 12
npm install npm --global # Upgrade npm to the latest version

Make sure you have node-gyp installed:

npm install -g node-gyp

This next setp is needed to build native dependencies. A popup will appear and you have to proceed with an installation. It will take some time, and may download a few GB of data.

xcode-select --install

Windows OS

Installing Node.js on Windows requires a few manual steps.

Go to Node.js to download and install it.

Then open your terminal as Administrator

Also you need to install NPM's Windows Build Tools

npm install --global --production windows-build-tools

and run the following command:

npm install -g node-gyp

Comments about Node.js and NPM

NPM is usually installed together with Node.js, so after installing Node.js, there's no need to install it separately.

If you want to have more than one version installed, the most fuss-free way to install and manage multiple versions of node on your computer is nvm . Note that nvm was used in Mac OSX.

If you're seeing errors mentioning "node-gyp", you need to install it.

Code editor

We need some software that is able to edit text files. Preferably one that has support for syntax highlighting for both Solidity and Javascript.

VS Code is a good choice if you don't already have one.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

Go to VS Code download if you would like to use it too.

Verify if your VS Code installation was successful by typing the following command into the terminal:

code -v

VSCode extension for Solidity

If you decided to use VSCode, it is great to have Solidity support. I use the solidity extension from Juan Blanco .

To install it, go to extensions (Menu View -> Extensions):

1. Type solidity in the search field.
2. Select solidity extension from Juan Blanco.
3. Click install.

Next steps

All prerequisites are already installed.

Now you will get to know web3 and then create your first frontend!