Setup your laptop

Note: although you can do Java development using any laptop (Windows, Mac, Linux), you can only run java robot software using a Windows laptop (the FRC driver station doesn't run on Mac or Linux), so for 2537 development, you should plan to do your work using a computer running MS Windows; if you don't have one, you can use one of the team laptops. If you want to set up your own Windows-based computer for FRC Java development:

1. Install Java
   • Install Java Development Kit (JDK) version 8 or 11 from either ​Zulu (recommended) or ​Oracle
   • Add an environment variable JAVA_HOME that points to the directory where you installed Java and add the bin sub-folder to your search path; see detailed instructions ​here.
2. Install Git (if not already on your computer) from ​here
3. Install Microsoft ​VSCode, required extensions, and the ​latest WPILib extension. Follow the detailed instructions ​here
4. To use cameras, you need to install the National Instruments (NI) FRC Vision Development Module ​here. Choose the 'current user' version, login to your NI account (or create one), and then select the Vision Development Module (FRC) for download. Unzip and install the module; when you later run the driver station software, it will ask you to activate the module using the instructions provided on the DriverStationSetup setup page
5. Install the latest National Instruments (NI) FRC Update Suite ​here. Detailed instructions are ​here. Note: to activate the vision module you will need the current team serial number which you can get from a mentor.
6. Install the ​CTRE Phoenix Framework
7. Make sure Microsoft Internet Explorer (yep) is installed on your computer