I’ve seen pretty much every other web developer with a blog do this, so why not jump on the bandwagon and do it too? This is a list of the tools I favour when doing my job – including my web-browser of choice, my favoured text editor and preferred FTP client.
Hardware (Performance)
Despite what some might tell you, web developers can not realistically get by on an old machine with Windows XP and 500kb of RAM. We would actually like to get our work done “some time today”! But, at the same time, we don’t need a kick-ass machine with 1gb of available Graphics Memory and 4gb of RAM. The main things I like from a web development machine are quick application start up times and stability, both of which can be achieved with any modern operating system (I favour Windows 7 – sorry Apple fans) and a decent helping (2gb?) of RAM.
Displays
I think that dual monitors are essential, and given the choice would never work on one monitor again. I think that purchasing a second screen is a great investment. Being able to have code on one screen and the application on the other (or email with instructions on one, code on the other.. the list is endless) speeds my work up so much more than I have ever been able to prove to anyone that has asked me to. Try it – if you can – I don’t think you’ll ever go back to single monitor hell.
Web Browser
Despite it’s occasional large memory footprint, I don’t think you can beat Firefox if you’re a web developer – even if only for the incredibly useful web development add ons that are available. I only really use two, though:
- The Web Developer Toolbar – this has saved me more time than I could ever imagine finding why an image is fuzzy (damn CSS sizing) or why certain areas of the page appear the way they do. It is just a huge time saver, one that in my opinion should be the first thing you install after Firefox itself.
- Firebug – I find this most useful if involving myself with AJAX, it’s “net panel” is simply awesome. I don’t even touch on half of this add on’s features, and still think it’s amazing!
Text Editor
I really, really like Activestate Komodo Edit, although I must admit that I haven’t tried anything else for at least 3 years now. My favourite feature in this application is “Go To Definition”. Right click a variable name, function name, or class name, click “Go To Definition” and you will be taken to either the variable assignment, function or class definition. This has saved me loads of time! The PHP syntax checking works well, and variable/function autocompletion is another big time saver.
FTP Client
When they made it paid-for a few years ago, I tried a few free-to-use alternatives and ended up back where I started, but with a fee to pay. And in my view that fee is worth every penny. I don’t think this FTP client can be beaten for ease of use or reliability - SmartFTP.
Email Client
This will come as quite a shock to most people, but I tried using Thunderbird for a period of a year and got sick to death of it’s constant memory hogging. Now, I use Microsoft Outlook 2007 for accessing my IMAP mail at work. But, my favoured email client of them all is Google Mail. I love how powerful and fast the search is, and fell in love with Labels as soon as they were introduced to me. *All* of my personal email (And freelance email) goes through it. If they made it paid-for, I’d pay for it immediately (within reason).
Scheduling Tool (Meetings, etc)
I started using Google Calendar in 2006, and haven’t looked back since. The ability to share calendars to view, or view & edit, and the ease of synchronisation between this service and a whole load of mobile phones makes this an immediate recommendation for me. Not forgetting of course that I can log in to google.com/calendar anywhere in the world and view or edit my schedule! This is my favourite web-based app to date, and my favourite use of AJAX.
