Setup guide

Install only what you need, when you need it

Welcome to IS 4010! We use official setup documentation so these instructions stay useful when tools change. Complete the Week 01 section before Lab 01, the Week 02 section before Lab 02, and the Rust section at the start of Week 09.

Week 01: Editor, terminal, Git, and Python

Visual Studio Code

  • Follow the official VS Code setup documentation.
  • On Windows, leave Add to PATH selected in the installer. That is what makes the code command work in a terminal later.
  • You may work in a standalone terminal or choose Terminal > New Terminal in VS Code.

Git and GitHub

  • Install Git from the official Git downloads page.
  • Windows: the installer asks a long list of questions. The defaults are fine for this course; you can click through them. One of those defaults installs Git Bash, which is the terminal you will use all semester, so you do not install it separately.
  • Create a GitHub account.
  • Apply for GitHub Education benefits.
  • Configure your name and the email associated with GitHub:
git config --global user.name "Your name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

Authenticating with GitHub

You do not need this until your first git push in Lab 01, but it helps to know what is coming. Git will ask you to prove who you are, and what you see depends on your machine.

Windows. Git Credential Manager came with Git and usually opens a browser window. Sign in to GitHub there and you are done.

macOS. Git prompts in the terminal for a username and password. GitHub no longer accepts your account password here. Create a personal access token, choose the classic token type, and give it the repo scope. Enter your GitHub username at the username prompt, then paste the token at the password prompt. Nothing appears on screen while you paste, which is expected.

Either way your computer saves the result, so this is a one-time step rather than something you repeat on every push. Treat a token like a password: never paste it into a file in the repository. If you lose it, generate a new one and delete the old one.

If the prompt keeps returning, see the troubleshooting page.

Which terminal to use

Every command in this course is written for a Unix-style shell. On macOS or Linux that is your default Terminal, and there is nothing to do.

On Windows, use Git Bash. It came with Git in the previous step, so it is already on your machine. Open it from the Start menu by typing “Git Bash”, or right-click inside a folder and choose Open Git Bash here.

TipWindows: make VS Code open Git Bash by default

Otherwise VS Code’s integrated terminal gives you PowerShell, and course commands will behave differently.

  1. Open VS Code and press Ctrl+Shift+P.
  2. Type Terminal: Select Default Profile and press Enter.
  3. Choose Git Bash.
  4. Open a new terminal with Terminal > New Terminal and confirm the prompt says MINGW64.

Do not use Command Prompt for this course. PowerShell is needed for exactly one step, installing uv below, and after that you can stay in Git Bash.

Python through uv

We use Python 3.12, managed by uv. Do not install Python separately unless uv’s official documentation tells you that your system requires it.

  1. Follow the official uv installation guide. On Windows, that installer runs in PowerShell, not Git Bash. Run it there, then close PowerShell and return to Git Bash for everything else. If uv --version is not recognized in Git Bash afterward, close and reopen Git Bash so it picks up the updated PATH.
  2. From your cloned labs repository, create the locked course environment:
uv sync --locked
  1. Verify the tools and the managed Python version:
code --version
git --version
uv --version
uv run python --version

uv sync creates .venv and installs the dependencies in uv.lock. You do not need to activate the environment.

Week 02: AI tools

Use any browser chat that helps you learn, including ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. We will also use all three development surfaces below.

GitHub Copilot in VS Code

GitHub Copilot CLI

Antigravity CLI

Install and try both CLI tools for Lab 02. After comparing them, you may use whichever combination of browser chat, VS Code Copilot, Copilot CLI, and Antigravity CLI fits the task.

Warning

Run a coding agent from inside the repository you want it to inspect. Read proposed commands before approving them, use git diff to review edits, and never place credentials in prompts or committed files.

Week 09: Rust

You do not need Rust for Labs 01–08. At the start of Week 09:

cargo --version
rustc --version