Get a text editor

Let's try and actually build what we discussed. Since the pipe is taken care of, we only need to focus on the client and the server. I know I said there are two computers in the scenario, nothing stops us from running both the client application and the server application on the same computer. Neither the client nor the server recognizes this. Nor do they care. Web developers often have multiple servers and multiple clients running on the same machine, this is just the way we work.

Before we start, we need to learn a bit about the terminal. If you already have some experience working with command line utilities, feel free to skip the next section.

You also need a text editor for writing code. You probably have one already, like Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on macOS. These might work, but they are painful to use when writing code. It's much better to use a specialized text editor, created for programmers.

I recommend Microsoft VS Code. It's free, it works on any operating system and it works nicely out of the box. So, go ahead, download and install it.

VS Code Tips

• If you don’t like the default dark style of VS Code, you can change themes by simultaneously hitting Cmd Shift P (macOS) or Ctrl Shift P (Windows) and typing Theme, then hitting Enter and choosing from a list.
• You can increase font size by hitting Cmd + and Cmd - (macOS) or Ctrl + and Ctrl - (Windows)