Getting Up and Running with Polymer Starter Kit on Windows
Most of the time Sometimes Windows doesn't play well with development tools out there. I'm trying out polymer and found the starter kit quite easy to setup compared to others but there's still the occasional hiccup. Here's some quick notes on how you can get started with less headaches.
Install Cmder
Cmder a beautiful console that allows you to run linux commands on Windows. Think Cygwin but more modern or a better version of Command Prompt. This software make it a lot easier to install and run the different tools. Plus you can use both unix and windows commands on the same terminal (that's probably just me).
Quick note: If you run into some DLL error, you can (A) Google it and find the issue an issue log or (B) download release 1.1.4.1 and everything works like a charm.
Download link and install instructions
Install Python
If you want to use the simple starter pack, python is required. Go to Python download site and get version 2.7.x. From my understanding, although 3.x is the latest and greatest version, a lot of people still go with version 2.x as it is a huge change and not just a simple upgrade. After downloading it, run the install file and you should get it installed.
Add python to your environment variables so that python [command] will become available in the command prompt. Go to System properties/Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings. In the pop-up window that shows up go to the Advanced tab and select environment variables. Alternatively, just hit Windows key then type environment variables. Find the Path variable and add a semicolon ; to indicate another item then the path where you installed python on your local computer. For example, this line ;C:\Python27\ is what you would append.
If that wasn't clear enough, check out how to edit the path variables here, here, here or just google it yourself past that point.
Download link and install instructions
Install Polymer Starter Kit
Finally, we are here at the last step. Go to Polymer Starter Kit latest release and download the file named polymer-starter-kit-light-x.x.x. Extract the file into some folder. Using your cmder app which you are running in Administrator mode, go inside the extracted folder into the app folder.
- Run the Starter Kit:
python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8080 - Open your browser to
http://localhost:8080/ - Enjoy