This page will help you get your local machine set up for How to Data development.

• I suggest that you consider using a development container instead, if possible. (It's like an invisible virtual machine that has everything you need already installed, such as correct versions of Python, R, Jupyter, etc., so you don't have to configure all that stuff on your own machine.) If you're interested in that approach, see this page instead.
• But perhaps you've already got the necessary tools (such as R, Python, whatever you plan to use) installed on your local machine and in your shell's path. If so, proceed as follows.

1. If you need an editor, I recommend Visual Studio Code, because it can edit markdown files, Jupyter notebooks, scripts in Python, R, Julia, and more. But perhaps you already have your own preferred IDE. Just ensure you have some appropriate code editor installed.
2. I highly recommend installing GitHub Desktop to make it easy to fetch our code, view your changes, and submit "pull requests," which are covered elsewhere in this wiki. (If you're a git pro, you can skip this step.)
3. Download our code by visiting the main folder of our code repository and using the buttons there to open the code repository on your computer using GitHub Desktop. See the screenshot below for what to click, plus you will need to permit your browser to open GitHub Desktop, and choose a folder in which to store the downloaded code.

4. Using your IDE of choice, open the folder into which you just downloaded the code. For example, in VS Code, you would choose the "Open Folder..." command, and tell it to open the folder into which you just downloaded the code. IMPORTANT: If using VS Code, it will tell you that there is a development container definition in that folder and ask if you want to build the container. Since these instructions are for those who do not want to use a development container, say NO.