Getting Started

To get started you need a computer. Once you have a computer you need to create an optimized workflow. You will need to write down or design how you will store and saves files. This is called a file hierarchy. It acts like a filing system but instead of manila folders it uses the folders on your computer.

Ask yourself:

  1. What projects will I be working on?
  2. What software will I need to download or install?
  3. How much space will this take?
  4. How much ram will I need?
  5. What will my file directories look like?

For level #1:

  1. Right now we are working on web development and building our first website.
  2. We will need to download Sublime to use as a text editor.
  3. At least 100gb, 512gb is common, more is only needed for higher levels.
  4. 8gb of ram is fine. 16gb is recommended for level 2, 32-64gb is recommended for level 3
  5. File directories for level 1 will look mostly flat. That is dump all files into one folder.

Once you have a computer and have installed Sublime go ahead and install Google Chrome.

File types

Level 1 file types focus mostly on documents and images. Document files we will use will be microsoft notepad .txt, an open source .html files. We will use these to create webpages using both notepad and Sublime as text editors. Level 1 images will be .png and .ico. We use .png as high quality images of anything such as photos and logos. We use .ico for icons, specifially for creating favicons to identify our website.

Organizing Workspace

Before starting organize where files will go on your computer. Modern operating systems use gui (graphical user interfaces) to see and interact with data. Windows automatically sets user profile up with a basic folder system to place files by type. Out the box files are commonly stored on c: drive. The system has folders for documents, pictures, music, and videos. Their location on the hard-drive is:

Locations on a pc are called file paths. File paths work on Windows File Explorer the way website names, called addresses, work on Microsoft Edge (or any other browser). The location is where your file is stored and where an operating system (OS) will look for it if you try to open, move, or delete it. For this level using default folder is fine. Later you will want to put files in custom locations you create.

Summary

  1. Get a computer
  2. Download Sublime text editor and install it

This concludes Level #1: File types and basic computer techniques. Continue to Level #1: Building a static website