Get Started (Setup)

Relax. We'll talk through this in plain words — no textbook voice.

Before you can start writing Node.js, you need to install Node.js runtime along with NPM on your computer. NPM is the package manager used to install packages like Express.js, nodemon, and dotenv.

javascript

# Check Node.js version
node -v

# Check NPM version
npm -v

# Create a practice folder
mkdir nodejs-practice
cd nodejs-practice

node -v checks whether Node.js is installed. npm -v checks whether the package manager is available. mkdir creates a folder, and cd moves into it.

You should see

v20.11.1 10.2.4

Info

If a version number shows up, the install worked. If you get "command not found", close and reopen your terminal. If it still doesn't work, reinstall Node.js.

What's Next

Once setup is done, head to the First App lesson and actually run a server file.

Easy traps

Right after installing Node.js, the command might not work in an old terminal window. Open a fresh terminal and check again.