Setup Guide

Setting Up a Package Manager

Install Homebrew on Mac or verify winget on Windows to install and manage software from the command line.

A package manager lets you install, update, and manage software from the command line with a single command — instead of visiting websites and running installers manually. This saves a lot of time when setting up a development environment.

  • Mac uses Homebrew
  • Windows uses winget (pre-installed on Windows 10/11)

Mac — Homebrew

Step 1: Install Homebrew

Open Terminal (press Command + Space, type Terminal, and press Enter), then paste the following command and press Enter:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

The script will explain what it is about to do and then pause — press Enter to continue. You may be asked for your Mac password during the process.

Note: If prompted to install Xcode Command Line Tools, click Install and wait for it to finish before the Homebrew installation continues. This is normal and required.

Step 2: Verify the installation

Close Terminal and open a new window, then type:

brew --version

You should see something like Homebrew 5.x.x printed.

Step 3: Using Homebrew

To install any package, use brew install. For example, to install Git:

brew install git

Windows — winget

winget is included with Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11. You likely already have it.

Step 1: Verify winget is installed

  1. Press the Start button and search for Command Prompt, then open it
  2. Type the following and press Enter: 
    winget --version
  3. If you see a version number like v1.x.x, you are all set

Step 2: If winget is not found

  1. Open the Microsoft Store app
  2. Search for App Installer and click Update or Install
  3. Once updated, close and reopen Command Prompt and run winget --version again

Step 3: Using winget

To install any package, use winget install. For example, to install Git:

winget install Git.Git

Why this matters

Once you have a package manager set up, installing the remaining workshop tools becomes much faster. We will use it together during the first session to install additional dependencies in one step.