Setup for Mac OS X

This guide will help you setup a software development environment on Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks and above. By the end, your computer will be configured with the same state-of-the-art tools used by professional software developers.

This guide is mostly compatible with older versions of Mac OS X. So follow along as best you can while Googling any problems you come across.

The Terminal

Included in Mac OS X is the Terminal—an app that runs a Unix shell.

A Unix shell (often referred to as a “terminal”) is a command line user interface between you and your computer’s operating system.

Change the Terminal Profile

The default profile for the Terminal uses small, black text on a white background. Boring! Let’s change that.

  1. In the Terminal app, navigate to the Terminal > Preferences menu item.
  2. In the preferences window, click the Settings Pane.
  3. On the left side, scroll to the bottom, select the Pro profile, and click the Default button.
  4. Finally, quit and relaunch the Terminal.

Now, every new Terminal window will look similar to this.

Next ⇒