Hi all, Title says it all really. I've cut my teeth on only two websites to date, the first one a couple of years back - only a few pages and I crafted it using notepad - I didnt really get bitten by the web development bug at that stage, but since then I've started another which uses phpBB and mxBB portal and a few php scripts, again handwritten in notepad. Now Im turning my mind to designing more sites and Im interested in learning more about CSS, doesnt look too difficult. However, I would like to get away from using notepad, so are there anyother development tools you guys can recommend to make life a little easier Thanks
The text editor is your most important tool. That's even more true if you are going to graduate to css based layouts. No wysiwyg type editor,eg. Dreamweaver or Frontpage, can manage anything but crap for code unless you like table layouts. Notepad is a simplistic editor with few real work features. A few features your editor should have are; Syntax hi-liting is, um, high on a lot of lists. I think it's OK, but usually have it turned off. Can open multiple files simultaneously. Can open at least two file windows at a time. Can SSH from within the editor. Can use ftp from within editor. Can manage files without leaving the editor; move, copy, delete, rename, etc.. Can use CVS from the editor, check out, commit, resolve conflicts, etc.. Can run diff on a pair of files. Can run your favorite shell, sh, BASH, CSH or even DOS without leaving the editor. Runs on all platforms. These are the features I use on a regular basis, and cannot imagine a productive day without them. I've used Emacs for years, and can find nothing else even close to its feature set. A second choice would be Vim. Do not be distracted by a bunch of GUI features. They're pretty, but will actually slow thing down each time you take your hands off the keyboard to use the mouse. Further, you need a standards compliant browser for your primary test bed. There is no competition here. Firefox is it. It has nothing to do with your browsing preference, but only on being right. Plus, the development extensions are so helpful in debugging html, css and javascript errors. Add IE to test the hacks, work-arounds and dumbing down for its sorry a**. The Gimp or Photoshop will take care of graphics needs, but that's not development. cheers, gary
I'm not sure what point gary is trying to make here, but his list makes no sense to me at all. I run a small software company and do a lot of GUI design for some popular software you probably use when company's are in a pinch - so I'll offer my $0.02. Syntax highlighting isn't really a feature. It's a standard. The only thing you'll want to worry about is whether or not your new IDE has the same highlighting as your old one. If not, can you customize it? If not, can you live with that. Opening multiple files simultaneously is something any modern editing software can do depending on what lib they're using to access the machines file system. Tabbed browsing is must, and quickly becoming a standard. If there is any sector of software tabbed browsing is being introduced faster than IDE's, I don't know of it. Most IDE's don't offer SSH support. This will become a standard soon, but it's not all that important. Buy yourself a copy of SecureCRT if you need tabbed SSH. You would think FTP would be a no-brainer, but even companies like Zend use the absence of it to lure people to purchase the bigger better badder model. File management isn't a make it or break it, but it's a nice feature none-the-less. cvs, diff, shell, bash, dos, et al.... True cvs is cvs and no IDE is going to come close to being able to cover its purpose. I have actually never used diff in development. Ever. I've never needed to. But if you're developing in vim, or you have SSH - you don't need it in your IDE do you. It needs to run on the platforms you use. That's all. If you don't use Linux, your IDE doesn't need to run on Linux. To pretend that cross-platform compatibility is important is just silly. If you use multiple platforms, sure - but you know who you are. If you're a php developer you might also want one that has an integrated stack for testing. But in that case, you probably already have one running locally. Lastly, I agree. Test in firefox. Keep an eye on it in IE though. Regardless of how good firefox is, the vast majority of people are still using IE. Plain and simple. We can be pissy about it, or we can choose to accept it as part of our profession. In closing I would say that you should download the demo of all the ones you find appealing. Most if not all good IDE's have demo's that are freely available and they give you an excellent idea of what you get for your money. -Cheers, Greg-J
So, point by point? Agreed, it's expected. I tend to have my eyes drawn by the colors, and for that reason, it slows me down. Purely personal preference. For me, formatting works better. A two space indention for each level of nesting and a blank line between sibling elements allows rapid scanning, and without color distractions. Not universally included, but is a requirement. True. However, as good as it is in a browser, its implementation in editors is sketchy. I am put off by poor keyboard support in many. Every time the hands leave the keyboard, say to reach for the mouse, productivity suffers. Why wouldn't you want to be able to edit files directly on the server while in your favorite editor. Why should another utility be needed? :shrug: Kinda seems like you ought to be able to edit a file and put it on the server without leaving the editor. Agreed. CVS interface is integral to Emacs. As for the shell, it is so handy to be able to make/compile/run test cases without leaving the editor. And diff? It's invaluable for collaborative work where you didn't use CVS. I'm surprised you haven't used it. Exactly. But which platform will you be working on next week? Or next year? I work in Linux unless I'm messing with IE, then it's a Win box. No hu-hu. Same editor on both. When I visit my graphics people, again, the same. They've been kind enough to put Emacs on their Macs for me. If I sat down at an Amiga, it's a Good Thing that I could load Emacs and work without learning a new interface. And, that's why your most important tool, the text editor, should work cross platform. Beyond my ken. I don't recall being "pissy" about it. However, if you code against a buggy browser (I'm especially thinking IE, here), you will write buggy code—html, css and javascript. If you write to standards (Firefox being the best test bed right now), you can hack, work around or dumb down for IE without developing bad coding habits. Coding for IE means not learning how stuff really works, and it's almost impossible to make bad code work in good browsers. Absolutely take your editor for a test drive. Just don't be overly impressed by a glossy GUI. GUIs make it very easy (but not always fast) to do what the author thought you should be doing. GUIs make it very difficult to do what the author didn't think about, or rejected. Second, don't be off put by the seeming steep learning curve of powerful editors. The more power, the more things to learn. Basic functionality will still be easy enough. cheers, gary
I think our posts are a perfect example why there is no 'perfect editor'. Different types of developers have very different needs. There are features that Gary finds absolutely integral to his development process that I would never need. Our development cycles take different routes, and our IDE's suit us accordingly. Interestingly enough, I never found a good enough editor for me - so I designed one. It's not perfect, it's not finished and it has its bugs - but when i'ts done it will be 'the perfect' IDE. I would also suggest you get involved in the community and give feedback of the IDE you choose. Not everyone has the resources to have one custom built, but you would be surprised at how easy it is to have a developer add a feature you would find valuable. When a company contacts me to design or redesign their UI, the first place I look is their community forums and forums based on their product. It's pretty standard practice, so your voice will likely be heard. -Cheers, Greg-J
scratch coding is always prefered, and I hate the simple notepad.exe thats why I use notepad2.exe, to me I find it very useful.. other than that sometimes I also use dreamweaver (very rare).. here is the link for notepad2.. flos-freeware DOT ch / notepad2.html ah - I cannot post links even I am trying to help someone too sad..
I use the one I created. It's on my site. I like it because it does everything I want to do, shows me preview in any browser installed, adds html to text, writes meta tags for me (I write, it adds tags), colors backgrounds, puts the table code if I want tables, manages my downloaded and found on web scripts, converts entire articles to webpages with my pre defined template added and many shortcut features. I can even launch google, msn or yahoo without leaving the editor and clicking IE icon on desktop. It's not a WYSWYG. It doesn't have tag coloring but I am considering developing it. Basically it was designed for visually challenged people and not much use of colors there....(Text read using a screen reader). It's memory usage was to be less so screen reader gets maximum RAM without interuption. To avoid lot of typing something common like scripts, stylesheets to be repeated can be saved in script book. It was originally coded to do everything using keyboard but I later added a toolbar, (ON or OFF ability), for someone who wants to use major functions using mouse instead of keyboard shortcuts. For those who use mouse more than keyboard may find it annoying... It also cannot open multiple files at 1 time but the editor itself can be opened more than once simultaneously, each having a different file opened Kind of works for me...
Thanks for the input so far guys, but I rather think the point has been missed. Im not looking for the perfect editor, rather an easy to use, cheap (free?) alternative to notepad. Im not a pro I have no need for many of the features that have been discussed (although they obviously have their place). I have now installed Emacs and it does seem useable, although I will have to familiarise myself with it somewhat and I'd like to compare it with some other recommendations. So please feel free to chip in with more suggestions (but take is given that I wont be using Dreamweaver ). Thanks
I use FrontPage lawl. I like it because it has the find and replace option. Oh, and I sometimes use EditPadLite