Web Programming on a Chromebook

This will bring up a prompt asking if you want to turn on developer mode. In a browser, I can create a sandbox to code my React apps, basic standard web pages with native HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, or use Angular, Vue, or a number of other options. Next, to determine which installation file you should download, we need to figure out which CPU your Chromebook has. You can do this with the command dpkg –print-architecture.

While ChromeOS users will use your web app in Chrome, we understand the importance of building web applications that reach everyone, regardless of browser choice. Things like Firefox or VSCode will run slower than on other machines running a Linux distribution like Ubuntu natively. This also means that video decoding is a bit slower, too, and playback may suffer as a result. Also, devices like microphones and webcams are not supported yet. What basically happens is that Chrome OS runs a version of Debian in a virtual machine. Because Debian is what Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution/operating system, is based on, you should be able to install anything on your Chromebook like you would on a Debian/Ubuntu machine.

Codecademy from Skillsoft

Chrome OS does currently not currently have a package manager like yum or apt. So, to install any app, developers have to build from the source for specific architectures. Starting anything can be really daunting – there’s always a lot to worry about. Say, for example, I needed to start a provision store. Terminator is especially useful because you can create new terminal tabs within it. That way you don’t have to press CTRL+ALT+T every time you need to launch a new program.

If that is your situation, you may like the Termux solution more, because it nicely integrates into ChromeOS by creating a Linux terminal in a window. If you like the convenience of the Termux solution, but do not like the many limitations of running Linux in that environment, then you should definitely check out crouton. Once you log in, a Chrome browser opens and that is it, you can start browsing the web. If you want to check your email, you use Gmail.

In the “Files” Window

Not all web programming projects require node.js, but, if yours does, make sure to follow the below instructions to set that up as well. For example, if you want to install Firefox, all you need to do is open up the terminal and enter sudo apt install firefox. But with a Chromebook nothing is permanent, since it is super easy to reset it back to a pristine state and start over with a different approach Do you use a Chromebook? Let me know in the comments if you have a great coding workflow. The only reason you may not want to go with the solution presented in the previous section is that you have to choose wether you want to boot ChromeOS or Linux, you cannot have both at the same time. And if you like the sleekness and simplicity of ChromeOS, it may be tough to get used to a less polished and harder to use Linux desktop. After the system resets, you will see a “System verification is OFF, press Space to re-enable”.

I think 16GB is more than enough for most people. I do most of my development on a machine with 192 GB of memory and I usually sit around 7% memory usage . While there are some limitations to programming locally on your Chromebook, you can still program in many languages. Use the commmand which node to see where node has been installed on your system. The Linux installation section will be underneath the image of the penguin. If you saw amd64 when you ran the previous command, click on the button that says “64 bit” in the “.deb” row underneath the image of the penguin.

The Chrome you love

No matter if your stack is JAM or LAMP or if you’re a Python or a Gopher, if it’ll run on Linux, you can run it on ChromeOS. RVM⁠, the Ruby version manager, is one of the oldest and best examples of a language version manager, allowing you to manage both Ruby and dependencies for multiple versions of Ruby. Most other languages have similar version managers. This site, built on Node.js, supports Volta⁠ and NVM⁠ for Node version management.

Right from the start you notice that Chromebooks are nothing like regular laptops. The very first thing you have to do is enter your Wi-Fi connection details, and once you do that you get a login prompt and the machine is ready for you. No need to go through long set ups where you have to answer a lot of questions, set up a user account, etc. All you need to use a Chromebook is a Google account. In terms of RAM, most models come with either 2GB or 4GB. I think 4GB is an absolute minimum for doing any kind of development work, so when I did my research I have ignored any models with less than 4GB of RAM.

Be prepared and don’t loose any data!

This lets you collaborate with everyone running CodeSandbox in their own browser. We don’t yet have any team projects for class yet, but I could see that feature being very helpful if we’re assigned to work as a group.

It also support color highlights and various plugins which extend its functionality. Using Chromebook is all about having your data synced with the server. If you are unlucky and you encounter a fatal system failure, ChromeOS will try to powerwash itself in the next boot. Even though that it’s quite harmless to usual Chromebook users which mostly loose just the content of their ~/Downloads directory, this can be very painful to developers using crouton. And finally, you are forced to use the CLI quite a lot.

Ultimate guide for Web Development on Chromebook — Part 1: Crouton

Termux implements a user-mode Linux environment that can run on any Android device. The environment runs in a sandbox and does not require a rooted device, so the system security is not compromised in any way. Termux runs in its own window, and you can still use the Chrome browser or any other apps you have installed, so the integration is really good. Not checking the OS for infiltrated code is something I can live with. A system with password-less sudo I cannot.

The only exceptions are a few system directories that Termux exposes to the Linux environment as mounts. This mostly works, but because the device is not rooted, symlinks are not allowed on any of these system mounts. The list of packages that are supported is fairly extensive, you’ll probably find that all the tools that you use have already been ported. Meant to add that setup-dev-env is free, open source, and supports chromebooks/chrome os as a main platform in addition to windows, mac, and linux. Switched from Atom to Visual Code studio and running Crouton in the window. I use the terminal plugin in VSC, so I have a shell in the root.