fill in installing software and browsing the web

[chrisdavidmills]

Description

When we restructured the MDN Learn web development section, some articles were published incomplete, with TODO sections.

This PR fills in content for Browsing the web and Installing basic software. The second one wasn't marked as incomplete, but it was pretty sparse, information-wise. It also makes some changes to related articles, to help with consistency and reduce repetition.

Motivation

Additional details

Related issues and pull requests

[github-actions]

Preview URLs (6 pages)

• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Version_control
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Browsing_the_web
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Code_editors
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Installing_software
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Web_standards/How_the_web_works
• /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Howto/Tools_and_setup/set_up_a_local_testing_server

Flaws (1255)

Note! 1 document with no flaws that don't need to be listed. 🎉

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Version_control
Title: Version control
Flaw count: 251

• macros:
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Installing_basic_software
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/What_will_your_website_look_like
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Dealing_with_files
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
  • and 246 more flaws omitted

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Web_standards/How_the_web_works
Title: How the web works
Flaw count: 251

• macros:
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Installing_basic_software
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/What_will_your_website_look_like
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Dealing_with_files
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
  • and 246 more flaws omitted

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Browsing_the_web
Title: Browsing the web
Flaw count: 251

• macros:
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Installing_basic_software
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/What_will_your_website_look_like
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Dealing_with_files
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
  • and 246 more flaws omitted

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Code_editors
Title: Code editors
Flaw count: 251

• macros:
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Installing_basic_software
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/What_will_your_website_look_like
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Dealing_with_files
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
  • and 246 more flaws omitted

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Installing_software
Title: Installing basic software
Flaw count: 251

• macros:
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Installing_basic_software
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/What_will_your_website_look_like
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/Dealing_with_files
  • Wrong xref macro used (consider changing which macro you use). Error processing path /en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web/HTML_basics
  • and 246 more flaws omitted

External URLs (56)

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Core/Version_control
Title: Version control

• https://desktop.github.com/download/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://git-scm.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://git-scm.com/downloads (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://git-scm.com/downloads/guis/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://github.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.gitkraken.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Howto/Tools_and_setup/set_up_a_local_testing_server
Title: How do you set up a local testing server?

• https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.live-server (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=yuichinukiyama.vscode-preview-server (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Browsing_the_web
Title: Browsing the web

• https://chatgpt.com (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://copilot.microsoft.com (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://duckduckgo.com/ (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://gemini.google.com/app (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://stackoverflow.com (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.bing.com/ (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.google.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://yandex.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Code_editors
Title: Code editors

• https://code.visualstudio.com/ (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Text_Editor (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Notepad (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TextEdit (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://netbeans.apache.org/front/main/index.html (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://notepad-plus-plus.org/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.sublimetext.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

---

URL: /en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Installing_software
Title: Installing basic software

• https://about.gitlab.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://brave.com/download/ (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://code.visualstudio.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://codepen.io/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://git-scm.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://github.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://glitch.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://pages.github.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/preview/welcome/mac (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/manage-photos-and-videos-with-microsoft-photos-app-c0c6422f-d4cb-2e3d-eb65-7069071b2f9b (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://tinypng.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://vivaldi.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://vivaldi.com/android/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.adobe.com/express/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.apple.com/safari/ (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.canva.com (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.figma.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.getpaint.net/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.gimp.org/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.google.com/chrome/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.google.com/chrome/go-mobile/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mobile (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/android/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.netlify.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.opera.com/browsers/opera (2 times) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.samsung.com/us/support/owners/app/samsung-internet (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.sketch.com/ (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)
• https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/25/24050478/apple-ios-17-4-browser-engines-eu (1 time) (Note! This may be a new URL 👀)

(comment last updated: 2025-01-02 10:40:51)

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	By this point in the module, you should have at some modern web browsers installed on your computer and other available devices. This article goes a little deeper into using browsers, looking at how a web browser works, the difference between some of the common items you'll interact with, and how to search for information.
	By this point in the module, you should have a modern web browser installed on your computer or other available devices. This article goes deeper into using browsers, looking at how a web browser works, the difference between some of the everyday things you'll interact with, and how to search for information.

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	> If you don't have any browsers installed beyond the default ones that came with your devices, get some more installed. See [Modern web browsers](/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Installing_software#modern_web_browsers).
	> If you don't have any browser installed beyond the default one that came with your device, try some others. See [Modern web browsers](/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Getting_started/Environment_setup/Installing_software#modern_web_browsers) for more information.

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	As with any area of knowledge, the web comes with a lot of jargon. Don't worry. We won't overwhelm you with all of it (we have a [glossary](/en-US/docs/Glossary) if you're curious). However, there are some basic terms you need to understand at the outset since you'll hear these expressions all the time as you read on. We introduce some important terms below.
	As with any area of knowledge, the web comes with a lot of jargon and technical terminology. Don't worry. We won't overwhelm you with all of it (you can check the [glossary](/en-US/docs/Glossary) if you're curious). However, there are some basic terms you need to understand from the beginning since you'll hear these expressions all the time as you read on. We introduce some important terms below.

[bsmth]

Are we doing "site." instead of "site".? 😄

[bsmth]

I'm not sure about 'infrastructure' usage here:

Suggested change

	This all makes sense because the first thing people tend to want to do with a browser is find a web page to display. Don't confuse the infrastructure (the browser) with the service (the search engine).
	This all makes sense because the first thing people tend to want to do with a browser is find a web page to display. Don't confuse the software (the browser) with the service (the search engine).

You could also use "car and road" metaphor, but the road is more than a search engine :)

[bsmth]

- Entering a search term somewhere else in the browser.

Where else?

[bsmth]

Maybe remove?

Suggested change

	Try some searches, as indicated above.

[bsmth]

Maybe it's style/subjective, but I would remove this last sentence. Keep if you like it.

[bsmth]

Newer information may not also be available, or answers may be skewed to older and more prevalent documentation, so "how to do X in JS" might give you outdated guidance.

[bsmth]

Maybe not just in this section, but I think it's good to mention:

• knowing how to look for documentation
• knowing how to read documentation (a tool or language reference, specs, MDN, GitHub READMEs, whatever)
• debugging -> knowing what output is important and how to find information about the problem
• communities where you can ask for help

as alternatives.

[bsmth]

You already mention search tips below, so would link to that / mention that comes next

[bsmth]

Small one to mention it may differ per search service:

Suggested change

	- There are many advanced search techniques you can use in search engines that will give you better results than just typing a plain search term. Typing in a plain search term such as `ant fish cheese` will return results that contain any combination of those words. However:
	- There are many advanced search techniques you can use in search engines that will give you better results than just typing a plain search term. Typing in a plain search term such as `ant fish cheese` will return results that contain any combination of those words. However search engines usually support variations of the following formats:

[bsmth]

Want to list these:

• https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
• https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/results/syntax/
• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/advanced-search-options-b92e25f1-0085-4271-bdf9-14aaea720930

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	For now, we would recommend that you install [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/), as it is available across different platforms, has a great feature set and support, and is the editor we mostly use. Do this now.
	For now, we would recommend that you install [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/), as it is available across different platforms, has a great feature set and support, and is the editor we mostly use. You should install this now to follow along with the rest of this article.

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	Having modern web browsers available is essential for web development, so you can test your websites/apps on the browsers you audience will use to access them. You also need to keep your web browsers up-to-date so that they support the latest web technologies and have the latest security fixes applied.
	Having modern web browsers available to you is essential for web development so that you can test your websites or apps on the browsers your visitors use to access them. You also need to keep your web browsers up-to-date so that they support the latest web technologies and have the latest security fixes applied.

[bsmth]

Suggested change

	When creating a website locally, you can often load up the main HTML index file directly in a browser to test it. However, some examples will need to be run through a locally-installed web server to work successfully.
	When creating a website locally (on your own machine), you can often load up the main HTML index file directly in a browser to test it. However, some examples will need to be run through a locally-installed web server to work successfully.

[bsmth]

Could also link to https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.live-server

[bsmth]

Suggested change

There are various ways you can do this, from buying hosting and using an [SFTP app](/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Howto/Tools_and_setup/Upload_files_to_a_web_server#sftp), using a service like [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/) or [Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/), or even just throwing up a quick test app to share with others using something like [Glitch](https://glitch.com/) or [CodePen](https://codepen.io/).

There are various ways you can do this, from buying hosting and using an [SFTP app](/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development/Howto/Tools_and_setup/Upload_files_to_a_web_server#sftp), using a service like [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/) or [Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/), or even setting up a quick demo to share with others using something like [Glitch](https://glitch.com/) or [CodePen](https://codepen.io/).

[bsmth]

Thanks, Chris! Couple of comments / suggestions to have a look at!