Where you actually do the work

Turning your project files into the packaged version that can actually run or be deployed.

The settings that tell a tool or app how to behave — things like which port to use, which database to connect to, how big to make the cache.

A self-contained, portable bundle of an app plus everything it needs to run.

A code editor built on top of VS Code with AI baked in.

A bit of code your project needs that someone else wrote.

A tool that packages your app and everything it needs — the runtime, the libraries, the config — into a single portable box called a container.

The app you type code into.

A file where you list your environment variables in one place.

A setting the computer remembers outside your code — often used for secrets like API keys.

An add-on that gives your editor or browser extra powers.

A larger piece of someone else's code that gives your project its overall shape, not just one helper job.

A named chunk of code that does one specific job, which other code can call on whenever it needs that job done.

An app for writing code that also helps you run it, test it, and fix it — all in one place.

Putting a tool or package onto your machine so it's ready to use.

A collection of ready-made code you can call on to do a specific job — date handling, image resizing, database access.

An automatic check for style problems, obvious mistakes, and risky-looking patterns in your code.

Your own computer. Where you're working right now, in front of you, before anything has been deployed or shared.

A special address that always means "this computer." When you open localhost in a browser, you're talking to a program running on your own machine.

A program that lets you run JavaScript outside a browser — usually on your computer or a server.

The tool that installs packages for JavaScript projects, plus the huge online registry those packages come from.

A bundled, named, versioned piece of reusable code you can drop into your project. Most often used interchangeably with "dependency."

The file in a JavaScript project that lists what it is, what it depends on, and what commands it can run.

The tool that installs packages for Python projects.

A numbered door on your computer where a specific program is listening.

Somewhere that isn't your computer — a server, a cloud machine, a GitHub repo online.

The environment your code actually runs in — the program or system doing the running.

A ready-made set of code and tools for working with a particular service, so you don't have to call its API by hand.

A way to safely log in to another computer and control it from your terminal.

A pair of files on your computer that proves it's you when you SSH into another machine — one file you keep secret, one you share.

A small piece of code that runs your code and checks whether it still works.

A named container that holds a piece of data your code is working with.

The most popular code editor in the world. Free, made by Microsoft.