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Getting Started

Welcome to Bootstrap! This guide will help you prepare to dive into our bootstrap lessons.

🎯 Who is this for?

This site is designed for:

  • New Developers - people just starting their coding journey
  • Students - learning programming for the first time
  • Career Changers - people switching to technology careers
  • Self-Learners - anyone wanting a solid foundation in the basics

🧠 Learning mindset

Before you start, remember:

  • Progress over Perfection - everyone makes mistakes while learning
  • Practice Regularly - consistency beats intensity
  • Ask Questions - don't be afraid to search for answers
  • Build Things - apply what you learn in small projects
  • Be Patient - programming takes time to master

Chris Lunsford

"I learn something when things work as expected. I learn more when things break."

🛠️ Essential development tools

You're going to use these a lot. 😏 Choose your preferred tools and learn how to use them! These tools form the foundation of any developer's environment:

  1. Terminal
  2. Text editor or Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

If you don't have a preference, start here (you can always switch later):

Terminal: iTerm

Code Editor: Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

Terminal: Windows Terminal

Code Editor: Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

💪 Know how to navigate

Learn basic command line navigation:

# Navigate directories
pwd                 # Show current directory
ls                  # List files and directories
mkdir dirname       # Create new directory
cd dirname          # Change to directory
cd ..               # Go up one level

# Create and manage files
cat file.txt        # View file contents
touch newfile.txt   # Create new file
rm filename.txt     # Delete file

# Navigate directories
pwd                    # Show current directory (alias for Get-Location)
ls                     # List files and directories (alias for Get-ChildItem)
mkdir dirname          # Create new directory (alias for New-Item -ItemType Directory)
cd dirname             # Change to directory (alias for Set-Location)
cd ..                  # Go up one level

# Create and manage files
cat file.txt           # View file contents (alias for Get-Content)
ni newfile.txt         # Create new file (alias for New-Item)
rm filename.txt        # Delete file (alias for Remove-Item)

🚀 Before you begin

🔥 Learning tips

  • Take notes - write down important concepts
  • Practice regularly - even 30 minutes daily helps, you will forget what you don't use
  • Don't rush - understanding is more important than speed
  • Test everything - run code examples yourself
  • Make mistakes - they're part of learning

😤 When you get stuck

  1. Read error messages carefully - they often tell you exactly what's wrong
  2. Check the Quick Reference - for syntax reminders
  3. Use online resources - AI chat (e.g. CoPilot, ChatGPT), official documentation, and Internet searches can be helpful and these are tools will use daily as a developer - start getting used to using them now
  4. Take breaks - sometimes stepping away helps clarify problems
  5. Practice patience - every professional developer was once a beginner
  6. Ask for help - sometimes the act of explaining your problem leads you to a solution, other times people may actually be helpful

The programming community is (usually) incredibly helpful and (often 🤞) supportive of new learners. Also, AI agents can be great resources for asking questions, getting answers, and exploring topics. Just remember that AIs and humans make mistakes and are wrong sometimes - validate answers and make sure you understand how solutions work.

🏁 Ready to start?

Each bootstrap topic is intended to be independent - you can bootstrap on any language or technology you choose.

That said, there is some merit to learning how to create project repositories and how to version control your code, so if you are looking for a place to start, I'd start with Git.

🌟 What comes next?

Life long learning! One of the best parts of software development is that our craft continually evolves. Continue learning. 😊

Happy coding, and remember: Keep going — you've got this! 🚀