Setup Your Environment

Before writing any code, you need two things: a code editor and a JavaScript runtime. This guide walks you through installing VS Code and Node.js inside your WSL environment.

Install VS Code

VS Code is a free, lightweight code editor made by Microsoft. It has built-in WSL support, which means you can edit your Linux files directly from Windows — no file path juggling required.

1. Download and install VS Code on Windows

Go to code.visualstudio.com and download the Windows installer. Run it and follow the prompts.

During installation, make sure "Add to PATH" is checked — this lets you open VS Code from the terminal with the code command.

2. Install the WSL extension

Open VS Code, go to the Extensions panel (Ctrl + Shift + X), and search for WSL (published by Microsoft). Install it.

This extension lets VS Code connect directly to your WSL filesystem and run tools like Node.js from inside Linux.

3. Open VS Code from your WSL terminal

Inside your WSL terminal, navigate to any folder and run:

code .

VS Code will open on Windows but connected to your WSL environment. You'll see "WSL: Ubuntu" in the bottom-left corner — that means it's working.

Recommended VS Code extensions

Once VS Code is connected to WSL, install these extensions inside the WSL context (VS Code will prompt you to install them "in WSL"):

To install them, open the Extensions panel (Ctrl + Shift + X) and search by name while VS Code is connected to WSL.

Install Node.js

Node.js lets you run JavaScript outside the browser — on the server, in scripts, and in build tools. You'll use it constantly as a full-stack developer.

The best way to install Node.js on Linux is through nvm (Node Version Manager). nvm lets you install multiple versions of Node and switch between them easily.

1. Install nvm

Inside your WSL terminal, run:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash

When it finishes, close and reopen your terminal so the nvm command becomes available.

2. Verify nvm is installed

nvm --version

You should see a version number like 0.40.3. If you get "command not found", close and reopen your terminal and try again.

3. Install the latest LTS version of Node.js

LTS stands for Long-Term Support — it's the stable version recommended for most projects.

nvm install --lts

4. Verify Node.js and npm are installed

node --version
npm --version

You should see something like:

v22.14.0
10.9.2

Both commands working means Node.js is installed correctly. npm (Node Package Manager) is bundled with Node and is what you'll use to install libraries and run scripts.

Test everything works together

Let's make sure VS Code, Node.js, and WSL are all talking to each other correctly.

1. Create a test project

In your WSL terminal:

mkdir ~/hello-world
cd ~/hello-world
code .

VS Code should open, connected to WSL, showing your hello-world folder.

2. Create a JavaScript file

In VS Code, create a new file called index.js and add:

const message = 'Hello from Node.js!'
console.log(message)

3. Run it in the VS Code terminal

Open the built-in terminal in VS Code with Ctrl + ` and run:

node index.js

You should see:

Hello from Node.js!

If that prints, your environment is fully set up and ready to go.

Next steps

You now have a professional development environment running on Windows. Move on to How the web works to start learning web fundamentals.