Course / Module 2 / Prerequisites

Prerequisites

Before we begin setting up your development environment, let's ensure you have the required knowledge and accounts in place.

Required Knowledge

This course assumes you have experience with:

JavaScript / TypeScript

  • ES6+ syntax (arrow functions, destructuring, spread operator)
  • Async/await and Promises
  • Module imports and exports
  • Basic TypeScript (types, interfaces) – helpful but not required
💡
TypeScript Help

Don't worry if you're not a TypeScript expert. Amplify Gen 2's types are designed to be intuitive, and your IDE will provide helpful autocomplete and error messages.

Vue.js Basics

  • Component structure (template, script, style)
  • Reactivity basics (ref, reactive, computed)
  • Event handling (@click, @submit)
  • Composition API preferred (though Options API knowledge helps)

Command Line

  • Navigating directories (cd)
  • Running commands
  • Understanding command output and errors

Required Accounts

1. AWS Account

You need an Amazon Web Services account. If you don't have one:

  1. Go to AWS Sign-up
    Visit aws.amazon.com and click "Create an AWS Account"
  2. Enter Your Information
    Provide email, password, and account name. You'll also need a credit card (for verification, but free tier covers our usage).
  3. Choose Support Plan
    Select "Basic Support - Free" unless your company requires a paid plan.
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AWS Costs

While this course stays within AWS Free Tier limits, you're responsible for any charges. We recommend setting up billing alerts and deleting sandboxes when not in use.

2. GitHub Account (Recommended)

While not strictly required for local development, you'll need GitHub for:

  • Version control of your projects
  • Amplify Hosting deployments (connects to your repo)
  • Team collaboration

Create a free account at github.com

System Requirements

Operating System

This course uses Windows 11 with PowerShell, but commands can be adapted for:

  • Windows 10 or 11
  • macOS (Catalina or later)
  • Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, etc.)

Hardware

  • At least 8GB RAM (16GB recommended)
  • 10GB free disk space
  • Stable internet connection

Software We'll Install

In the next lessons, we'll install:

Tool Purpose Version
Node.js JavaScript runtime for development tools and Nuxt v18.x or v20.x LTS
npm Package manager (comes with Node.js) v9.x or v10.x
Git Version control system v2.40+
AWS CLI Command-line interface for AWS services v2.x
VS Code Code editor (recommended) Latest

Code Editor

We strongly recommend Visual Studio Code for this course. It provides:

  • Excellent TypeScript support with autocomplete
  • Vue.js extension (Volar) for .vue file support
  • Integrated terminal
  • AWS Toolkit extension for Amplify

Download from: code.visualstudio.com

Recommended VS Code Extensions

  • Vue - Official (Volar) – Vue.js language support
  • TypeScript Vue Plugin – Better TypeScript in Vue files
  • ESLint – JavaScript/TypeScript linting
  • Prettier – Code formatting
  • AWS Toolkit – AWS service integration

Pre-Check: What Do You Have?

Before moving on, open PowerShell and check if you already have these tools:

node --version

Should show v18.x.x or v20.x.x or higher

npm --version

Should show 9.x.x or 10.x.x

git --version

Should show git version 2.x.x

aws --version

Should show aws-cli/2.x.x

If any of these are missing or out of date, don't worry! We'll install everything in the upcoming lessons.

Summary

✅ Before Continuing, Ensure You Have:

  • Basic JavaScript/TypeScript knowledge
  • Familiarity with Vue.js basics
  • An AWS account (or ready to create one)
  • A GitHub account (recommended)
  • A computer with 8GB+ RAM and internet access