Let's geek out over strategies for managing Node + NPM, customizing the command line with bash scripts, tricking out your code editor with plugins, optimizing your edit/preview/debug development loop, choosing devices for your hardware library, and streamlining deployment. Companion blog post found at http://www.ryanjsalva.com/2016/05/15/cordova-dev-environment.html

1. Creating the Ideal Dev Environment
Ryan J. Salva, Microsoft
@ryanjsalva

2. DISCLAIMER
• There’s no such thing as an “ideal” dev environment.
• While I researched the tools used by surveying over 100
Cordova professionals, you may prefer something different.
• If you have a tip, preference or better tool, please share it!

3. Creating the Ideal Dev Environment
• Hardware
• Node Version Manager
• Globally Installed NPM Packages
• VS Code
• .bash_profile
• Android SDK
• Android Emulator
• Parallels
• Visual Studio
• Remote Build Agent

4. Hardware (Mac-based)
• 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display
• 3.1GHz Dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.4GHz
• 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM
• 1TB PCIe-based Flash Storage
• Intel Iris Graphics 6100
• OSX El Capitan
• Parallels or VM Ware Fusion Pro

5. Hardware (Windows-based)
• 13.5-inch Microsoft Surface Book
• 6th Gen Intel Core i7
• 1TB SSD
• 16GB RAM / dGPU
• Windows 10 Pro
• iOS Build Options
• PhoneGap Build
• MacInCloud
• Mac Mini

6. 0.12.x 2.x all
>=4.0 2.x >=5.3.3
>=5.0 3.x >=5.4.1
6.x 3.X none
A Complicated Mess

7. sudo npm install -g cordova
...
npm ERR!
npm ERR! Additional logging details can be found in:
npm ERR! /Users/ryanjsalva/npm-debug.log
npm ERR! not ok code 0

8. sudo npm install is a Bad Idea™
• npm install has the ability to run arbitrary scripts. If you
accidentally install malicious software with administrative
permissions, you’re giving away the keys to the kingdom
• Running sudo npm install (without -g) will create a local
directory that can only be altered by the root user.
• Even sudo npm install -g with a valid installation target can
mess things up for you and make it hard to use npm without
sudo. Admin will have directory permissions, making permission
errors with a local user likely in the future.
http://nvm.sh/

9. # install nvm
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.31.1/install.sh | bash
# confirm that nvm is installed
nvm --version
# install the latest stable release
nvm install v4.4.4
# make it the default
nvm alias default v4.4.4

10. # this is a Cordova dev environment, right?
npm install –g cordova

11. # UI framework
npm install –g cordova ionic

12. # live updates w/o re-submitting to the store
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli

13. # future JS features today, req. by Ionic+Ng2
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript

14. # simply build pipeline management
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp

15. # Xcode build from Windows
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild

16. # Install and debug iOS apps w/o opening Xcode
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy

17. # launch iOS simulator from CLI
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim

18. # enforce JavaScript code style guide
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim
eslint

19. # the baseline for our code style guide
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim
eslint eslint-plugin-standard

20. # enforce TypeScript code style guide
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim
eslint eslint-plugin-standard tslint

21. # framework agnostic livereload
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim
eslint eslint-plugin-standard tslint cdvlive

22. # That’s it! Install everything else locally
npm install –g cordova ionic code-push-cli
typescript gulp remotebuild ios-deploy ios-sim
eslint eslint-plugin-standard tslint cdvlive

23. .bash_profile
http://github.com/ryanjsalva/bash

24. Debug your code on any browser, emulator or device.
Increase speed & accuracy with Intellisense for plugins.
Invoke Cordova commands from the editor.
Visual Studio Code

25. VS Code Extensions
Cordova
cordova-tools
vscode-eslint
tslint
JS Native
vscode-react-native
nativescript

26. Google Emulators
Apple OSX
GenyMotion (requires VirtualBox)
Google SDK with HAX
Windows
Visual Studio Android Emulator

27. Building for Windows
• Visual Studio
• Tools for Apache Cordova
• Node 0.12 and NPM 2.2 (sandboxed)
• Android SDK
• Ant & Gradle
• Visual Studio Android Emulator