Set Up the Development Environment

To use webpack and Babel, you must install Node.js on your computer. Refer to the instructions on the Node.js website[10] to install Node.js for your operating system. Both the long-term-support (LTS) and the latest release should work, but generally, the LTS version is a safer choice. If you already have Node.js installed, ensure it’s at least the latest release in the 6.x series. The application won’t need Node.js installed to run; you’ll only need Node.js to prepare the files before you upload them to your web server.

Once you have installed Node.js, check that the npm command is on your PATH. The Node.js installer should set things up correctly, but double-check by running npm --version in your terminal: ...

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