User:Aeric/HowTo:Install CoffeeScript

1. Go to http://nodejs.org/, click [Download], do the install

  --CoffeeScript requires Node.js to run the compiler 
  --It uses npm (node package manager) to download & install coffescript
    (bundled with Node.js!)

2. In File Explorer, move the nodejs folder to C:\

   --In :\Program Files, or C:\Program Files (x86) on a 64 bit system     

3. Start a command shell cd c:\nodejs set path=%PATH%;%CD% setx path "%PATH%

  --that command modifies the registry, so you don't have to go find env variables!

4. Install Coffeescript npm install -g coffee-script

 --installation folder is created:
   C:\Users\{user}\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\coffee-script

5. Start a new shell,so the commands in coffee-script/bin can be used 6. In the command shell, verify the install: coffee

 --after a short pause, you see the prompt for the coffe-script interpreter
 --coffee>
 --Press Ctrl+C to exit the interpreter
 --Try out the "instant eval" option for a one-line command:
     coffee -e "console.log num for num in [10..1]"
     result: Count down from 10 to 1, one value per line

7. Do a test compile

  --Create a project folder
  --Create a file with the initial sample code from coffeescript.org (below)
    (sample.coffee)
  --Compile it: coffee -c 
  --Resulting .js file should match the results displayed at coffeescript.org
  --Notice how much cleaner and nicer it is, and much more fun it will be to 
    work with!

8. Clean up the build environment

  --create src/ and lib/ subfolders
  --move the .coffee file to src/
  --nuke the .js file
  --Save and run the following command (put it build.cmd):
       coffee -c -o lib/ src/
  Other options to explore:
     --watch a file and recompile every time it is saved
          coffee -w -c myfile.coffee
     --concatenate a list of files into a single script
          coffee --join project.js --compile src/*.coffee
     --watch and recompile an entire project
          coffee -o lib/ -cw src