In this section, we will guide you through the process of setting up your development environment for Dart programming. By the end of this section, you will have all the necessary tools installed and configured to start writing and running Dart code.

The Dart SDK (Software Development Kit) is essential for developing Dart applications. It includes the Dart VM, the Dart core libraries, and various command-line tools.

1. Visit the Dart SDK Download Page:

   • Go to the official Dart SDK download page: Dart SDK

2. Choose Your Operating System:

   • Select the appropriate installation instructions for your operating system (Windows, macOS, or Linux).

3. Follow the Installation Instructions:

   • Windows:
     • Download the Dart SDK zip file.
     • Extract the contents to a directory of your choice.
     • Add the bin directory to your system's PATH environment variable.
   • macOS:
     • Use Homebrew to install Dart by running the following command in your terminal:

       brew tap dart-lang/dart
       brew install dart
       

   • Linux:
     • Use the following commands to install Dart on Debian-based systems:

       sudo apt update
       sudo apt install apt-transport-https
       sudo sh -c 'wget -qO- https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -'
       sudo sh -c 'wget -qO- https://storage.googleapis.com/download.dartlang.org/linux/debian/dart_stable.list > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/dart_stable.list'
       sudo apt update
       sudo apt install dart
       

4. Verify the Installation:

   • Open a terminal or command prompt.
   • Run the following command to verify that Dart is installed correctly:

     dart --version
     

   • You should see the Dart version information displayed.

An IDE provides a comprehensive environment for writing, running, and debugging code. For Dart development, we recommend using Visual Studio Code (VS Code) due to its excellent support for Dart and Flutter.

1. Download and Install VS Code:

   • Visit the Visual Studio Code website and download the installer for your operating system.
   • Follow the installation instructions to install VS Code.

2. Install the Dart Extension:

   • Open VS Code.
   • Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in the Activity Bar on the side of the window or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+X.
   • Search for "Dart" and install the Dart extension by Dart Code.

3. Configure the Dart SDK in VS Code:

   • Open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P.
   • Type "Dart: Change SDK" and select it.
   • Choose the path to the Dart SDK you installed earlier.

Now that you have set up the Dart SDK and VS Code, let's write and run a simple Dart program to ensure everything is working correctly.

1. Create a New Dart File:

   • Open VS Code.
   • Create a new file by clicking on File > New File or pressing Ctrl+N.
   • Save the file with a .dart extension, for example, hello.dart.

2. Write a Simple Dart Program:

   • In the hello.dart file, write the following code:

     void main() {
       print('Hello, Dart!');
     }
     

3. Run the Dart Program:

   • Open the terminal in VS Code by clicking on Terminal > New Terminal or pressing `Ctrl+``.
   • Navigate to the directory where your hello.dart file is located.
   • Run the Dart program by executing the following command:

     dart hello.dart
     

   • You should see the output Hello, Dart! in the terminal.

In this section, you have successfully set up your development environment for Dart programming. You installed the Dart SDK, set up Visual Studio Code with the Dart extension, and wrote and ran your first Dart program. With your environment ready, you are now prepared to dive deeper into Dart programming in the upcoming modules.