How to Set Up a Development Environment (Windows and Mac)

A development environment is everything on your machine that turns source code into running software: a package manager, an editor, version control, a terminal you like, and the language runtimes for what you build. Setting it up takes an hour if you do it in the right order. This is that order, for Windows and macOS, with the choices that avoid the classic problems.

What you are building#

Install in that order. The package manager goes first because it installs everything below it and keeps it updated.

Windows#

1. winget and Windows Terminal#

Both ship with current Windows 11. Open Windows Terminal, which gives you tabs and a proper PowerShell, and check:

winget --version

If winget is missing, install App Installer from the Microsoft Store.

2. Git#

winget install --id Git.Git -e
git --version          # in a new terminal window
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"
git config --global core.autocrlf true

That last line handles Windows line endings sensibly when sharing code with Mac and Linux users.

3. Editor#

winget install --id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -e

During install, keep the option to add Open with Code to the context menu and to add it to the PATH; the code . command is worth having.

4. Runtimes#

winget install --id Python.Python.3.13 -e
winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e
winget install --id Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.10 -e
winget install --id EclipseAdoptium.Temurin.25.JDK -e

Install only what you need. After each, open a new terminal and confirm with python --version, node --version, and so on. If a command is not recognised, the installer did not add it to the PATH; the Python one in particular has a checkbox for it.

5. Decide about WSL#

Windows Subsystem for Linux gives you a real Ubuntu inside Windows. If you will deploy to Linux servers, work with Docker, or follow tutorials written for Linux, it is worth using from the start:

wsl --install

Then open the Ubuntu app, and install runtimes inside it with apt. VS Code’s WSL extension opens folders inside Linux directly. Keep project files on the Linux side, under your Linux home directory, rather than on the Windows drive; the file system is much faster there.

If you write .NET, PowerShell scripts, or Windows applications, skip WSL and work natively.

macOS#

1. Command line tools#

xcode-select --install

This installs Git, a C compiler and the other tools that everything else depends on. It is a few hundred megabytes rather than the full Xcode, which you only need for iOS development.

2. Homebrew#

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

At the end, the installer prints two lines to add to your shell profile. Do that, or nothing installed with Homebrew will be found:

echo 'eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"' >> ~/.zprofile
eval "$(/opt/homebrew/bin/brew shellenv)"
brew --version

3. Editor and runtimes#

brew install --cask visual-studio-code
brew install python@3.13 node
brew install --cask temurin@25          # Java, if you need it
brew install --cask dotnet-sdk          # .NET, if you need it

git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "you@example.com"

4. The shell profile#

macOS uses zsh, and zsh reads ~/.zshrc for each terminal window. Anything that needs to be on the PATH, and any aliases, go there. When a tool “works in one terminal and not another”, it is always this file.

echo $SHELL            # /bin/zsh
code ~/.zshrc          # open it in VS Code

Both platforms: isolation per project#

The single most valuable habit is never installing project dependencies globally. One project needing an old library and another needing a new one is the classic way environments rot.

# Python: one virtual environment per project
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate        # .venv\Scripts\activate on Windows
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Node: dependencies are per project by default; versions via nvm or fnm
fnm use 22

# Anything with services: Docker Compose
docker compose up

Docker Desktop is the last piece for anyone who works with databases or several services. Install it once you have a project that needs it, not before; it is a large install and needs WSL on Windows.

Editor setup that pays off#

• Install the extension for each language you use, not every language.
• Turn on format-on-save with a formatter for your language.
• Learn three shortcuts: command palette, quick open file, and toggle terminal.
• Turn on Settings Sync so a new machine takes minutes rather than an afternoon.

Where to go next#

• VS Code setup for beginners — the editor in detail.
• WSL for beginners — Linux inside Windows.
• Python virtual environments — per-project isolation.