When I say it’s “considerably faster”, I mean way, way faster. It is considerably faster than the current version because it leverages a virtualization core in Windows instead of using the translation layer. Version 2 of the WSL is a different story. I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to left-pad my own strings. That’s kind of a big problem for web developers since any proper npm install will copy thousands of files to your machine. This is especially true when the WSL is reading and writing to the file system. That means that in order to get Linux on Windows, you need to do three things:Īs it turns out, that translation layer is a tad on the slow side - kind of like me trying to remember if I need splice or slice. The WSL, in its current incarnation, is a translation layer that converts Linux system calls into Windows system calls. The Windows Subsystem for Linux, or, “WSL” is what enables you to run Linux on Windows. Most of these things will be in the main Windows build at some point in the future. Note: At the time of this writing, a lot of the items in this article will require you to use or switch to “preview” or “insiders” builds of various items, including Windows. If you’ve been craving some of that Surface hardware but can’t live without a Linux terminal, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll also show you my amazing terminal setup (which was named “best ever” by “me”) and how you too can set up your very own Windows/Linux development machine. In this article, I’m going to take an in-depth look at how new technology in Windows 10 enables you to run a full Linux terminal on Windows. And what of my sweet, sweet Bash prompt? Well, I brought it along with me, of course.

I’m drafting this article on it right now. A Surface Book 2 running Windows 10 to be exact. It wasn’t until the new Surface hardware line came out a few years ago that I realized: I gotta have one of those. This sole fact has made it difficult for me to do frontend work on Windows.

I’m one of those people who can’t live without their Bash terminal. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at how to set up a Windows/Linux development box for JavaScript development. Love your Bash terminal but also love your PC? Maybe you’ve had your eye on some of that new Surface hardware, but can’t make the switch without your terminal.

Install javascript for windows 10