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This is our base install for front-end development.

Install the local development environment and dependencies

We use NPM for package management and Gulp for builds and task automation.

• Download and install Node.js. The Node Package Manager (NPM) is automatically installed at the same time.
• Navigate to the project folder in a terminal window (cd My/Awesome/Folder).
• Run npm install in the terminal. This will install all dependencies needed to run the project locally, including Gulp and other plugins.

Always work in the /src folder

All source files are in the /src folder. We never directly modify the generated HTML, CSS, or JS files.

• We use Sass (eg. main.scss) to generate our CSS files.
• We use CoffeeScript (eg. main.coffee) to generate our JS files.
• We use Jade (eg. index.jade) templates to generate our HTML files.

When these source files are modified, changes are injected automatically into browsers via BrowserSync, even mobile browsers on the same Wi-Fi network. You will need to have the local BrowserSync server open (eg. http://localhost:3000, or http://yourlocalipaddress:3000 on other devices) for this to work.

Launch the local development environment

• Navigate to the project folder in a terminal window (cd My/Awesome/Folder).
• Compile Sass/CoffeeScript/Jade files and launch the BrowserSync server: gulp
• You can open the local BrowserSync server on any number of browsers or devices, and they will all update in real time when you make changes to the source files.