Node.js

What is Node.js?

Node.js® is a free, open-source, cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment that lets developers create servers, web apps, command line tools and scripts.

To code in React (or any frontend framework), you will need Node installed to run any servers locally, both for the server itself as well as the build tools.

Download and Install

Go to https://nodejs.org/en

Click the Download Node.js (LTS) button.

In general you should choose even number LTS versions for running servers and for local development. If you are looking for potential future features or experimental features, you can choose newer than LTS or odd numbered versions. This article from Node.js is the original explanation of what LTS is when it was introduced in Node.

Check your Node.js installation:

node -v
# This should output a version, something like:
# v20.14.0
npm -v
# This should output a version, something like:
# 10.7.0