Six steps. Do them in order, and ask for help if something looks different on your screen.

1. Create a GitHub account
2. Install git and the GitHub CLI, and log in
3. Install Zed
4. Install uv
5. Install ruff, ty and pytest
6. Set up Zed to use ruff and ty

Many steps use the terminal: a window where you type commands. The next slide shows how to open it on your computer.

Pick your operating system. The rest of the slides will show the right commands for it.

When a slide shows a command in a box, press Copy, paste it into the terminal and press Enter.

GitHub is where developers keep their code. These lessons live there too, and you will use it to save your own projects and show them to others.

1. Go to github.com/signup
2. Choose a username. Other people will see it, and it is hard to change, so pick something you will still like in a few years.
3. Use an email address you can open, because GitHub sends you a code to confirm it.
4. Pick a strong password and write it down somewhere safe.

You need to be at least 13 years old to have a GitHub account. If you are younger, tell your instructor and we will find another way to save your code.

git copies code to and from GitHub. The GitHub CLI (gh) logs you in, so git never asks for passwords.

sudo apt install git gh

Now log in. Answer the questions like this:

gh auth login

1. Where do you use GitHub? GitHub.com
2. Preferred protocol? HTTPS
3. Authenticate Git with your GitHub credentials? Yes
4. How would you like to authenticate? Login with a web browser
5. Copy the code it shows, press Enter, paste the code in the browser and click Authorize.

Check: gh auth status should say you are logged in.

Zed is the editor where we write code. It is fast, and it understands Python, JavaScript and Go.

curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | sh

Check: open Zed. You should see a welcome screen.

uv installs Python for you, creates projects, and keeps track of the packages each project uses. One tool instead of five.

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Close the terminal and open a new one, so it learns about uv. Then check that it works:

uv --version

You should see something like uv 0.10.3. The exact number does not matter.

ruff and ty are installed once, for the whole computer, with uv:

uv tool install ruff@latest
uv tool install ty@latest

pytest is added to each project instead, so we do that in the next section when we create your project (with uv add --dev pytest).

Check:

ruff --version
ty --version

If the terminal says it cannot find ruff, run uv tool update-shell, then open a new terminal and try again.

Zed comes with a Python checker called basedpyright. We switch it off and use ty and ruff instead, which are built into Zed too.

1. Open Zed's settings: press Ctrl + , (on a Mac: ⌘ + ,), or open the command palette and choose zed: open settings.
2. A file called settings.json opens. Paste this inside it, so it is the only thing in the file:

{
  "languages": {
    "Python": {
      "language_servers": ["ty", "ruff"],
      "format_on_save": "on",
      "formatter": {
        "language_server": { "name": "ruff" }
      },
      "code_actions_on_format": {
        "source.organizeImports.ruff": true,
        "source.fixAll.ruff": true
      }
    }
  }
}

The language_servers list says which checkers Zed uses for Python. Anything not in the list (like pyright and basedpyright) is turned off. The rest makes ruff tidy your code every time you save.

Run these in a new terminal. Each one should print a version number, and gh should say you are logged in:

git --version
gh auth status
uv --version
ruff --version
ty --version

Then open Zed and make sure it starts.

If everything works, you are ready to create your first project. 🏴‍☠️

Something not working? That is normal. Raise your hand and we will fix it together.