Stage 1 of 8 · 8 lessons · ~2 weeks

Set up your machine

Set up Terminal or iTerm2, the Xcode Command Line Tools and Homebrew, then Git and VS Code. The rest of the roadmap runs in your zsh shell, so a clean setup now saves hours of confusing errors later.

Start: Terminal, iTerm2 and zsh

Lessons· one lesson for each topic, in this order

Do this

Pick Terminal or iTerm2, and confirm your shell with `echo $SHELL`.
Install the Xcode Command Line Tools with `xcode-select --install`.
Install Homebrew from brew.sh and add it to your PATH as the installer says.
Run `brew doctor`, then install git, jq and tree with brew.
Configure Git: name, email, default branch and editor.
Install VS Code and add the `code` command to your PATH.
Create `~/code` and open it with `code .`.

Start with

CourseFree
The Missing Semester of Your CS Education
MIT · Beginner
The first lecture introduces the shell with exercises that work in the macOS terminal

Keep handy

Homebrew
The install command and documentation for the package manager you will use for every tool
Visual Studio Code
The editor used through this roadmap, with official set-up guides for each operating system

Also worth your time

roadmap.sh: LinuxGo deeper
A map of the whole Linux topic, to see how much there is beyond this stage

Before moving on: A Mac where the terminal opens zsh, Homebrew installs tools cleanly, Git is configured, `brew doctor` is happy and VS Code opens `~/code` with `code .`.

Tauseef's advice

Let Homebrew own your command-line tools and resist installing the same tool three ways. When something breaks after a macOS upgrade, reinstall the Command Line Tools and run `brew doctor` before you search anything else.