include _util-fns :marked Good tools make application development quicker and easier to maintain than if you did everything by hand. The [**Angular-CLI**](https://cli.angular.io/) is a **_command line interface_** tool that can create a project, add files, and perform a variety of on-going development tasks such as testing, bundling, and deployment. The goal in this CLI QuickStart chapter is to build and run a super-simple Angular application in TypeScript, using Angular-CLI while adhering to the [Style Guide](./guide/style-guide.html) recommendations that benefit _every_ Angular project. By the end of the chapter, you'll have a basic understanding of development with the CLI and a foundation for both these documentation samples and for real world applications. You'll pursue these ends in the following high-level steps: 1. [Set up](#devenv) the development environment 2. [Create](#create-proj) a new project and skeleton application 3. [Serve](#serve) the application 4. [Edit](#first-component) the application .l-main-section h2#devenv Step 1. Set up the Development Environment :marked You need to set up your development environment before you can do anything. Install **[Node.jsĀ® and npm](https://nodejs.org/en/download/)** if they are not already on your machine. .l-sub-section :marked **Verify that you are running at least node `4.x.x` and npm `3.x.x`** by running `node -v` and `npm -v` in a terminal/console window. Older versions produce errors, but newer versions are fine. :marked Then **install the [Angular-CLI](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli)** globally. code-example(language="sh" class="code-shell"). npm install -g @angular/cli .l-main-section h2#create-project Step 2. Create a new project :marked Open a terminal window. :marked Generate a new project and skeleton application by running the following commands: code-example(language="sh" class="code-shell"). ng new my-app .l-sub-section :marked Patience please. It takes time to set up a new project, most of it spent installing npm packages. .l-main-section h2#serve Step 3: Serve the application :marked Go to the project directory and launch the server. code-example(language="sh" class="code-shell"). cd my-app ng serve :marked The `ng serve` command launches the server, watches your files, and rebuilds the app as you make changes to those files. Open a browser on `http://localhost:4200/`; the app greets you with a message: figure.image-display img(src='/resources/images/devguide/cli-quickstart/app-works.png' alt="The app works!") .l-main-section h2#first-component Step 4: Edit your first Angular component :marked The CLI created the first Angular component for you. This is the _root component_ and it is named `app-root`. You can find it in `./src/app/app.component.ts`. :marked Open the component file and change the `title` property from _app works!_ to _My First Angular App_: +makeExample('cli-quickstart/ts/src/app/app.component.ts', 'title', 'src/app/app.component.ts')(format=".") :marked The browser reloads automatically and we see the revised title. That's nice, but we can make it look better. Open `src/app/cli-quickstart.component.css` and give the component some style +makeExample('cli-quickstart/ts/src/app/app.component.css', null, 'src/app/app.component.css')(format=".") figure.image-display img(src='/resources/images/devguide/cli-quickstart/my-first-app.png' alt="Output of QuickStart app") :marked Looking good! .l-main-section :marked ## What's next? That's about all you'd expect to do in a "Hello, World" app. You're ready to take the [Tour of Heroes Tutorial](./tutorial) and build a small application that demonstrates the great things you can build with Angular. Or you can stick around a bit longer to learn about the files in your brand new project. .l-main-section :marked ## Project file review An Angular-CLI project is the foundation for both quick experiments and enterprise solutions. The first file you should check out is `README.md`. It has some basic information on how to use CLI commands. Whenever you want to know more about how Angular-CLI works make sure to visit [the Angular-CLI repository](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli) and [Wiki](https://github.com/angular/angular-cli/wiki). Some of the generated files might be unfamiliar to you. block src-files :marked ### The `src` folder Your app lives in the `src` folder. All Angular components, templates, styles, images and anything else your app needs go here. Any files outside of this folder are meant to support building your app. .filetree .file src .children .file app .children .file app.component.css .file app.component.html .file app.component.spec.ts .file app.component.ts .file app.module.ts .file assets .children .file .gitkeep .file environments .children .file environment.prod.ts .file environment.ts .file favicon.ico .file index.html .file main.ts .file polyfills.ts .file styles.css .file test.ts .file tsconfig.json style td, th {vertical-align: top} table(width="100%") col(width="20%") col(width="80%") tr th File th Purpose tr td <code>app/app.component.{ts,html,css,spec.ts}</code> td :marked Defines the `AppComponent` along with an HTML template, CSS stylesheet and a unit test. It is the **root** component of what will become a tree of nested components as the application evolves. tr td <code>app/app.module.ts</code> td :marked Defines `AppModule`, the [root module](guide/appmodule.html "AppModule: the root module") that tells Angular how to assemble the application. Right now it declares only the `AppComponent`. Soon there will be more components to declare. tr td <code>assets/*</code> td :marked A folder where you can put images and anything else you need to be copied wholesale when you build your application. tr td <code>environments/*</code> td :marked This folder contains one file for each of your destination environments, each exporting simple configuration variables to use on your application. The files will be replaced on-the-fly when you build your app. You might use a different API endpoint for development than you do for production. Or maybe different analytics tokens. Maybe even some mock services. Either way, the CLI has you covered. tr td <code>favicon.ico</code> td :marked Every site wants to look good on the bookmark bar. Get started with your very own Angular icon. tr td <code>index.html</code> td :marked The main html page that is served when someone visits your site. Most of the time you'll never need to edit it. The CLI will automatically add all `js` and `css` files when building your app so you never need to add any `<script>` or `<link>` tags here manually. tr td <code>main.ts</code> td :marked The main entry point for your app. Compiles the application with the [JIT compiler](glossary.html#jit) and bootstraps the application's root module (`AppModule`) to run in the browser. You can also use the [AoT compiler](glossary.html#ahead-of-time-aot-compilation) without changing any code by passing on `--aot` to `ng build` or `ng serve`. tr td <code>polyfills.ts</code> td :marked Different browsers have different levels of support of the web standards. Polyfills help normalize those differences. You should be pretty safe with `core-js` and `zone.js`, but be sure to check out the [Browser Support guide](guide/browser-support.html) for more information. tr td <code>styles.css</code> td :marked Your global styles go here. Most of the time you'll want to have local styles in your components for easier maintenance, but styles that affect all of your app need to be in a central place. tr td <code>test.ts</code> td :marked This is the main entry point for your unit tests. It has some custom configuration that might be unfamiliar, but it's not something you'll need to edit. tr td <code>tsconfig.json</code> td :marked Configuration for the TypeScript compiler. block root-files :marked ### The root folder The `src/` folder is just one of the items inside the project's root folder. Other files help you build, test, maintain, document, and deploy the app. These files go in the root folder next to `src/`. .filetree .file my-app .children .file e2e .children .file app.e2e-spec.ts .file app.po.ts .file tsconfig.json .file node_modules/... .file src/... .file .editorconfig .file .gitignore .file angular-cli.json .file karma.conf.js .file package.json .file protractor.conf.js .file README.md .file tslint.json style td, th {vertical-align: top} table(width="100%") col(width="20%") col(width="80%") tr th File th Purpose tr td <code>e2e/*</code> td :marked Inside `e2e/` live the End-to-End tests. They shouldn't be inside `src/` because e2e tests are really a separate app that just so happens to test your main app. That's why they even have their own `tsconfig.json`. tr td <code>node_modules/...</code> td :marked `Node.js` creates this folder and puts all third party modules listed in `package.json` inside of it. tr td <code>.editorconfig</code> td :marked Simple configuration for your editor to make sure everyone that uses your project has the same basic configuration. Most editors support an `.editorconfig` file. See http://editorconfig.org for more information. tr td <code>.gitignore</code> td :marked Git configuration to make sure autogenerated files are not commited to source control. tr td <code>angular-cli.json</code> td :marked Configuration for Angular-CLI. In this file you can set several defaults and also configure what files are included when your project is build. Check out the official documentation if you want to know more. tr td <code>karma.conf.js</code> td :marked Unit test configuration for the [Karma test runner](https://karma-runner.github.io), used when running `ng test`. tr td <code>package.json</code> td :marked `npm` configuration listing the third party packages your project uses. You can also add your own [custom scripts](https://docs.npmjs.com/misc/scripts) here. tr td <code>protractor.conf.js</code> td :marked End-to-end test configuration for [Protractor](http://www.protractortest.org/), used when running `ng e2e`. tr td <code>README.md</code> td :marked Basic documentation for your project, pre-filled with CLI command information. Make sure to enhance it with project documentation so that anyone checking out the repo can build your app! tr td <code>tslint.json</code> td :marked Linting configuration for [TSLint](https://palantir.github.io/tslint/) together with [Codelyzer](http://codelyzer.com/), used when running `ng lint`. Linting helps keep your code style consistent. .l-sub-section :marked ### Next Step If you're new to Angular, we recommend staying on the [learning path](guide/learning-angular.html "Angular learning path"). You can skip the "Setup" chapter since you're already using the Angular-CLI setup.