‫Before we can get started with this course,
‫we actually need to install Node.js
‫on our local development computer.
‫And this process is actually exactly the same
‫for all operation systems.
‫So in this video, I will use Mac OS,
‫but on Windows or Linux, it's really just the same.
‫Now installing other technologies
‫like the MongoDB database,
‫works very differently on Windows.
‫And so by then, I will have one video for Mac
‫and one for Windows, all right?
‫Anyway, let's now go add and install Node.js.
‫So in your web browser, head over to nodejs.org,
‫and then on the website, you should see these two
‫big green buttons here to download Node.js
‫for your current operating system.
‫So up here, you should see automatically selected
‫the OS that you're currently running.
‫And if not, you can just head over here to DOWNLOADS
‫and then select your operation system from there, okay?
‫Then here, you can select which Node.js version
‫you would like to install.
‫So, right now, the long term support version is version 10,
‫and so that's actually the one
‫that I'm using in this course.
‫But right now, the current version,
‫so the newest one basically, is 12, okay?
‫But Node just recommends for most users
‫the Long-Term Support version
‫and also by the time I started recording this course,
‫version 10 was actually the current one.
‫And so therefore, in this course, we're using version 10
‫and so you can go ahead
‫and download this version now as well, all right?
‫Now if you're watching this video in the far future,
‫then another version might already be here, the LTS version.
‫So let's actually take a look here at the schedule.
‫And so you see that they actually have a timeline here
‫for all the versions in the future.
‫So right now version 10 is the active version,
‫but if you're like watching this video for example in 2021,
‫well then you should probably go with Node.js 14, okay?
‫Now, what's also important to note here
‫is that you should only use the even version numbers
‫for a production project.
‫So that's 10, 11, 14, and so on and so forth.
‫And in case you're worrying that I'm using an old version
‫in this course, in case you're watching this
‫in the far future, then let me tell you
‫that Node actually doesn't change that much,
‫in terms of what we're gonna do here in this course,
‫from one version to the other, okay?
‫So probably, you will be perfectly fine
‫by using Node 12 or Node 14.
‫And everything will be working in the exact same way, okay?
‫And only in case you run in any problem,
‫you can then go ahead and install Node 10
‫and see if your problem disappears by doing that, okay?
‫So again, don't worry all too much
‫about outdated versions here.
‫All right?
‫Anyway, let's now actually download this version 10 here
‫so that I can take you here through the process.
‫So once that arrives, just open it, and then as always,
‫just click Continue everywhere.
‫You must agree.
‫And then install it.
‫Okay.
‫And with this, you should now have Node.js installed
‫on your local computer.
‫Now just to test it, let's close the window here.
‫All right.
‫And then open up your terminal, okay?
‫So, I'm using Terminal.app on Mac OS
‫and on Windows, you can use the Command Prompt
‫or the PowerShell.
‫Both work just fine, okay?
‫So in order to test if we have Node.js installed,
‫just write node and then -v, which stands for version.
‫Hit Return.
‫And so that should then give you the version number
‫of your current installation.
‫And in case you see an error here, then you should probably
‫try to reinstall Node.js.
‫Now, if you're taking this course,
‫I'm assuming that you're already familiar with the basic use
‫of the Terminal, or of the command line.
‫So you should know basic commands, like ls,
‫to take a look at all the files in a current directory.
‫On Windows, that's actually D-I-R,
‫so which stands for directory, and again,
‫that will give you a list of all the files or folders
‫in the current location, okay?
‫So in the Terminal, you're always in a location.
‫In my case, I'm currently in the Home folder.
‫And then you can basically move around
‫in your folder structure.
‫For example, if I wanted to move to my Desktop,
‫I could use cd Desktop, hit Return,
‫and now I'm in the Desktop.
‫Then I can go back with cd ..,
‫and so now I'm back here in this main folder.
‫And actually, we don't need to know much more
‫about the Terminal or the command line, okay?
‫So we won't use much more than what I just showed you
‫in this two minutes.
‫Great.
‫So now that you have Node.js installed
‫on your development computer,
‫we are ready to move on.
‫And so I hope to see you soon in the next video.