5 ms·

How to prepare your fresh Mac for software development

28 points by mtkocak 10y ago

asteinbr 10y ago
This one is better: http://sourabhbajaj.com/mac-setup/ http://sourabhbajaj.com/mac-setup/
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- mhw 10y ago
  Or if you like a fully scripted setup: https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop
  - mtkocak 10y ago
    +1
nbmh 10y ago
For setting up a Mac, I can't recommend a .osx file highly enough. Dot files in general make setting up a new computer really easy, especially when combined with homebrew's cask. I've been able to setup a familiar dev environment on a new machine in less than 15 min because I've maintained dotfiles. It's a relatively small time investment upfront and the payoff can be massive, especially if anything ever goes wrong on your main machine.
- dspoka 10y ago
  I'm sorry I'm not totally sure I know what you are talking about. Care to link?
  - psylence519 10y ago
    Scripting out your favorite settings, here’s an example: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.macos https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.macos I use something similar, along with dotbot (https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot) to wire up other application’s settings files. There’s lots of good examples around to steal and tweak.
  - nbmh 10y ago
    Here's an example (not mine): https://github.com/necolas/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/osxdefaults https://github.com/necolas/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/osxdefau...
  - RotsiserMho 10y ago
    Mackup (https://github.com/lra/mackup https://github.com/lra/mackup) is a great tool for this. Beware, however, that it creates symlinks in place of your existing files. So if you decide you don't like it, run the uninstall command before removing the Mackup folder or bad things will happen (I learned from experience).
MasterScrat 10y ago
Setup for Homebrew, GitHub Desktop and an IDE? This seems excessively basic...
- J0-onas 10y ago
  Not to nitpick but TextMate and VS Code aren't even 'real' IDEs. They're text editors. The IDE aspect is added by installing plugins which a) mostly depend on the the needs of the user, and b) she didn't showed.
- mtkocak 10y ago
  I write mostly for beginners. Yeah those are not ides. I mostly prefer PHPStorm but I will talk about those on some next article.
drinchev 10y ago
> Let's start with a list of essential things you need. > ... > Github — The essential version control system git is the VCS. GitHub is a service ( website ) that provides git repositories.
- paradite 10y ago
  I find it interesting that she installed GitHub Desktop but was using `git clone` later. OP, If you are looking at this, learn that GitHub Desktop is supposed to provide a graphical UI for some basic git operations (such as git clone). You can install and use git without installing GitHub Desktop.
  - J0-onas 10y ago
    Isn't git preinstalled in macOS?
    - paradite 10y ago
      The one pre-installed is way outdated. Better off install the latest version using homebrew.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        The one shipped by Apple on OS X 10.11.6 is 2.7.4, which was released in March this year. That's hardly "way outdated". > Better off install the latest version using homebrew. The Git project provides package to install binaries for OSX. Homebrew's name would be more accurate to the reality of the product if it's name was bathtub-whiskey.
        paradite 10y ago
        They updated it, following this incident: http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/04/17/unprotected/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/04/17/unprotected/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/05/05/xcode/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/05/05/xcode/
lsaferite 10y ago
Things like this make me die a little inside every time: > Open a fresh terminal and enter this command: /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/in...
- mtkocak 10y ago
  why?
  - psylence519 10y ago
    You’re executing a script directly off of a git repo. There’s a lot of trust involved there. One sneaky pull-request away from an exploit. That said, I do it all the time like everyone else. :)
    - mtkocak 10y ago
      That's the official installation instruction of homebrew. http://brew.sh/ http://brew.sh/ But anyway I got your point.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        That doesn't make it any less terrible, but honestly who expects more from homebrew, as a project it's hardly the pinnacle of engineering excellence.
  - lsaferite 10y ago
    As others have said, blinding executing a ruby script directly out of a GH repo is risky (to put it mildly). Sure, you have to have some trust in the whole infrastructure at some point, but the number of times I've seen this type of thing blindly posted and followed boggles my mind. Here is a post talking about the issue and pointing out non-malicious issues: https://www.seancassidy.me/dont-pipe-to-your-shell.html https://www.seancassidy.me/dont-pipe-to-your-shell.html
gaius 10y ago
For <a very small subset of development>. When I get a new box I install among other things, OCaml and Forth... This is a good rant tho' https://medium.com/my-name-is-midori/software-development-is-fucked-up-a002b3435be8#.bba2fro3h https://medium.com/my-name-is-midori/software-development-is...
sciencerobot 10y ago
I like homebrew-bundle [1]. It lets me list all of the apps I use in a text file and install them with a single command. You can also run `brew bundle --cleanup` to purge your system of apps that you no longer need (as long as you installed them with homebrew/homebrew-bundle in the first place). - [1] https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle
bitwize 10y ago
Step one is to install Xcode or the Xcode command line tools. These are necessary for brew to build from source. Once brew and clang are working it's mostly a matter of installing packages as on a normal Unix system. Definitely want to install command-line git. Of course what this guide is missing is how to set up the runtime for whatever environment/framework you're using. For Rails you'll want rvm/rbenv; for Node, nvm. You also may wish to test everything in a Linux VM that mirrors prod, in which case configuring your Mac to transfer or share the code jn your src directory with the VM is necessary. Getting the actual dependencies of your code up and running is generally the most crucial -- and most difficult -- part of prepping any new dev box.
- knicholes 10y ago
  Using Docker, one could have various images made for whichever runtime environments you require. This way, no dependencies for running/compiling code need to be installed on a dev machine other than Docker and can be easily used from any machine with Docker, avoiding the hassle of setting up all of these dependencies.
teh_klev 10y ago
Apologies, but I can't help myself: http://widgetsandshit.com/teddziuba/2011/03/osx-unsuitable-web-development.html http://widgetsandshit.com/teddziuba/2011/03/osx-unsuitable-w... But the problem ranted about above doesn't just apply to Macs. One of the most common things I see on our support system is the dev team who've built their app on Windows + XAMPP then wonder why stuff doesn't work the same when they deploy to their production CentOS box. If you're writing any server side code you should be developing on a machine (or VM) that closely matches your production targets. Then there's no surprises.
- mtkocak 10y ago
  Man up and learn Emacs.
pfooti 10y ago
I like laptop from thoughtbot. It is a good starting point. https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop
pathikrit 10y ago
Here's mine: https://github.com/pathikrit/mac-setup-script/blob/master/setup.sh https://github.com/pathikrit/mac-setup-script/blob/master/se...
technojunkie 10y ago
This does seem a little basic but I forked and rewrote another setup guide specifically for front-end developers using a Mac. https://github.com/asuh/front-end-osx https://github.com/asuh/front-end-osx

28 points by mtkocak 10y ago

asteinbr 10y ago

This one is better: http://sourabhbajaj.com/mac-setup/ http://sourabhbajaj.com/mac-setup/

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
mhw 10y ago
Or if you like a fully scripted setup: https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop
- mtkocak 10y ago
  +1

nbmh 10y ago

For setting up a Mac, I can't recommend a .osx file highly enough. Dot files in general make setting up a new computer really easy, especially when combined with homebrew's cask. I've been able to setup a familiar dev environment on a new machine in less than 15 min because I've maintained dotfiles. It's a relatively small time investment upfront and the payoff can be massive, especially if anything ever goes wrong on your main machine.

dspoka 10y ago
I'm sorry I'm not totally sure I know what you are talking about. Care to link?
- psylence519 10y ago
  Scripting out your favorite settings, here’s an example: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.macos https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.macos I use something similar, along with dotbot (https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot https://github.com/anishathalye/dotbot) to wire up other application’s settings files. There’s lots of good examples around to steal and tweak.
- nbmh 10y ago
  Here's an example (not mine): https://github.com/necolas/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/osxdefaults https://github.com/necolas/dotfiles/blob/master/bin/osxdefau...
- RotsiserMho 10y ago
  Mackup (https://github.com/lra/mackup https://github.com/lra/mackup) is a great tool for this. Beware, however, that it creates symlinks in place of your existing files. So if you decide you don't like it, run the uninstall command before removing the Mackup folder or bad things will happen (I learned from experience).

MasterScrat 10y ago

Setup for Homebrew, GitHub Desktop and an IDE? This seems excessively basic...

J0-onas 10y ago
Not to nitpick but TextMate and VS Code aren't even 'real' IDEs. They're text editors. The IDE aspect is added by installing plugins which a) mostly depend on the the needs of the user, and b) she didn't showed.
mtkocak 10y ago
I write mostly for beginners. Yeah those are not ides. I mostly prefer PHPStorm but I will talk about those on some next article.

drinchev 10y ago

> Let's start with a list of essential things you need. > ... > Github — The essential version control system git is the VCS. GitHub is a service ( website ) that provides git repositories.

paradite 10y ago
I find it interesting that she installed GitHub Desktop but was using `git clone` later. OP, If you are looking at this, learn that GitHub Desktop is supposed to provide a graphical UI for some basic git operations (such as git clone). You can install and use git without installing GitHub Desktop.
- J0-onas 10y ago
  Isn't git preinstalled in macOS?
  - paradite 10y ago
    The one pre-installed is way outdated. Better off install the latest version using homebrew.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      The one shipped by Apple on OS X 10.11.6 is 2.7.4, which was released in March this year. That's hardly "way outdated". > Better off install the latest version using homebrew. The Git project provides package to install binaries for OSX. Homebrew's name would be more accurate to the reality of the product if it's name was bathtub-whiskey.
      - paradite 10y ago
        They updated it, following this incident: http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/04/17/unprotected/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/04/17/unprotected/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/05/05/xcode/ http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2016/05/05/xcode/

lsaferite 10y ago

Things like this make me die a little inside every time: > Open a fresh terminal and enter this command: /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/in...

mtkocak 10y ago
why?
- psylence519 10y ago
  You’re executing a script directly off of a git repo. There’s a lot of trust involved there. One sneaky pull-request away from an exploit. That said, I do it all the time like everyone else. :)
  - mtkocak 10y ago
    That's the official installation instruction of homebrew. http://brew.sh/ http://brew.sh/ But anyway I got your point.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      That doesn't make it any less terrible, but honestly who expects more from homebrew, as a project it's hardly the pinnacle of engineering excellence.
- lsaferite 10y ago
  As others have said, blinding executing a ruby script directly out of a GH repo is risky (to put it mildly). Sure, you have to have some trust in the whole infrastructure at some point, but the number of times I've seen this type of thing blindly posted and followed boggles my mind. Here is a post talking about the issue and pointing out non-malicious issues: https://www.seancassidy.me/dont-pipe-to-your-shell.html https://www.seancassidy.me/dont-pipe-to-your-shell.html

gaius 10y ago

For <a very small subset of development>. When I get a new box I install among other things, OCaml and Forth... This is a good rant tho' https://medium.com/my-name-is-midori/software-development-is-fucked-up-a002b3435be8#.bba2fro3h https://medium.com/my-name-is-midori/software-development-is...

sciencerobot 10y ago

I like homebrew-bundle [1]. It lets me list all of the apps I use in a text file and install them with a single command. You can also run `brew bundle --cleanup` to purge your system of apps that you no longer need (as long as you installed them with homebrew/homebrew-bundle in the first place). - [1] https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-bundle

bitwize 10y ago

Step one is to install Xcode or the Xcode command line tools. These are necessary for brew to build from source. Once brew and clang are working it's mostly a matter of installing packages as on a normal Unix system. Definitely want to install command-line git. Of course what this guide is missing is how to set up the runtime for whatever environment/framework you're using. For Rails you'll want rvm/rbenv; for Node, nvm. You also may wish to test everything in a Linux VM that mirrors prod, in which case configuring your Mac to transfer or share the code jn your src directory with the VM is necessary. Getting the actual dependencies of your code up and running is generally the most crucial -- and most difficult -- part of prepping any new dev box.

knicholes 10y ago
Using Docker, one could have various images made for whichever runtime environments you require. This way, no dependencies for running/compiling code need to be installed on a dev machine other than Docker and can be easily used from any machine with Docker, avoiding the hassle of setting up all of these dependencies.

teh_klev 10y ago

Apologies, but I can't help myself: http://widgetsandshit.com/teddziuba/2011/03/osx-unsuitable-web-development.html http://widgetsandshit.com/teddziuba/2011/03/osx-unsuitable-w... But the problem ranted about above doesn't just apply to Macs. One of the most common things I see on our support system is the dev team who've built their app on Windows + XAMPP then wonder why stuff doesn't work the same when they deploy to their production CentOS box. If you're writing any server side code you should be developing on a machine (or VM) that closely matches your production targets. Then there's no surprises.

mtkocak 10y ago
Man up and learn Emacs.

pfooti 10y ago

I like laptop from thoughtbot. It is a good starting point. https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop

pathikrit 10y ago

Here's mine: https://github.com/pathikrit/mac-setup-script/blob/master/setup.sh https://github.com/pathikrit/mac-setup-script/blob/master/se...

technojunkie 10y ago

This does seem a little basic but I forked and rewrote another setup guide specifically for front-end developers using a Mac. https://github.com/asuh/front-end-osx https://github.com/asuh/front-end-osx