Goal for this part
Add a menu bar, editor pane, and status bar shell.
Treat 02-Layout as the source of truth for this checkpoint. If your local tree drifted, re-clone that folder rather than mixing files from neighbors.
What you should already know
You do not need prior Electron experience for part 1. Later parts assume you finished the earlier snapshots on the same machine.
- Node.js is installed so you can run
npm install - You are comfortable editing JavaScript and HTML files
Why Electron fits Inkline
Electron is how many shipping editors wrap Chromium and Node. You get a desktop window with web UI and file-system access from the main process.
A textarea, tab strip, and menu bar map cleanly to HTML. Keep file I/O in main/preload—never trust the renderer with raw paths unchecked.
After you run the snapshot, you should recognize the behavior described in the goal—before you move on. If the window (or server) never appears, stop and fix the run steps.
Code shape
Snapshots stay small on purpose. Look for this kind of core call as you read the folder:
fs.writeFileSync(filePath, contents, "utf8");How to run it
Clone the teaching repo, open 02-Layout, install what the README asks for, then run npx electron ..
git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-electron-editor.git
cd fcc-electron-editor/02-Layout
npm install
npx electron .Common mistakes
- Ignoring platform-specific install notes in the snapshot README
- Editing files in the wrong numbered folder
- Mixing layout widgets from a later snapshot into an early one
- Forgetting to restart the app after a code change