Preparation

In this chapter, you will learn how to use Julia (installation, setup, loading packages, creating scripts, etc.) If you are an in-person participant in this workshop, you should have received a mail prior to the workshop to complete the Preparation instructions. If you did, you can skip this part and continue with Working with Julia in VSCode. If you are doing the workshop online or were too lazy to follow the mailed instructions, you should proceed with Preparation.

Installing Julia

Before we begin working with Julia, it's essential to have the language properly installed on your computer. Follow the steps below to install Julia:

  1. Go to the official Julia Website and navigate to the "Downloads" section.
  2. Choose the current stable release for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux), download it, and install it.
  3. (Optional:) To verify the installation:
    1. open the terminal (Windows: Windows key for Windows then type cmd, Mac: Cmd + Space for Spotlight then type terminal)
    2. In the terminal: type julia.
    3. If a new prompt appears, you have successfully installed Julia on your system. Try, e.g., 1 + 1

Now that you have Julia installed, we can proceed to set up your development environment.

The workshop, as it currenty is, was tested with the following Julia version:

v"1.9.3"

Installing Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

Visual Studio Code (VSCode) is a popular and versatile integrated development environment (IDE) that offers excellent support for Julia, making it our recommended choice for this workshop.

  1. Download the installer.
  2. Once the download is complete, locate the installer file and run it. Follow the prompts and instructions to install VSCode.
  3. After the installation is complete, open VSCode.

Installing Julia extension for VSCode

Now that you have VSCode installed and open, you'll need to add the Julia extension. Follow these steps:

  1. Open the Extensions view: Click on the square icon on the left-hand sidebar (or press Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X) to open the Extensions view.
  2. Search for the Julia extension: In the Extensions view, use the search bar at the top to search for "Julia" and select the extension called "Julia" from the author julialang.
  3. Click on the "Install" button on the top of the page.

You have now successfully set up VSCode with Julia support, and are ready for the workshop!