Being a web developer is not an easy gig. A lot of people study coding, but not everyone gets to the end to call themselves a proud developer. But when one breaks the hurdles and makes it as a developer, they then have to face the highly demanding work environment that includes performing under high pressure, staying up late at night, and even answering calls on weekends. And then face the ruthlessness of low recognition! But that doesn’t demotivate developers from being their best. They’re developers for a reason.
But they’re not left to face everything by themselves. Thanks to the companies that make the life of programmers easy by constantly blessing the industry with newer performance tools and widgets that will come in handy during various phases of the website development cycle.
Website Development Cycle
Let’s see what the development cycle is and where you can make use of the tools.
Website building: Developers can either write code from scratch or make use of template-based frameworks to get the site up and running. Most of the tools provide such editing features and are free to use. The others can be subscribed to by paying a recurring fee. Depending on the scale of the project, you can decide which tools to use and which not. There are multiple tools too that can get the same job done.
Website hosting: The website built needs to be hosted. There are plenty of hosts available on the net right now. One of the major ones being GoDaddy. The platform offers you a vast array of features like SEO support, security, and high uptime. If you are looking to host your website now then using GoDaddy hosting coupons might be the best way you can cut on total spending. You can bag a free domain name, free SSL, or even half-rate discounts during special occasions.
The entire cycle needs constant implementation of code, collaboration, and testing. Thus we have decided to list down the best tools that will help you as a developer through the entire process.
GitHub: Development Platform
GitHub makes software development easy by providing collaboration and administrative support to developers. The tool also helps you get to keep a record of the codes you’ve worked with and rewind them as necessary. It is one tool where you can manage all coders, codes, and projects. You can also test your code through the tool. GitHub provides a range of competitive pricing or you can also contact the sales team for a custom quote.
Bootstrap: Open-Source CSS framework
Well, developers’ jobs have never been easy. Especially when you are getting started. Creating codes from scratch can be cumbersome. However, Bootstrap is the ultimate library for CSS which is open source and can be used for free. You could simply pick the code from the plethora of CSS templates for forms, buttons, navigation, typography, and more. A Bootstrap account will come in very handy for building websites on a deadline or for training purposes.
JQuery: API tool
Another useful tool for developers that makes development and writing HTML codes a cakewalk with even basic programming knowledge is JQuery. It is an open-source javascript library which helps with animations, manipulation and provides you with open-source APIs which you can use as per your needs. As per Wikipedia, JQuery is used by 73% of the most popular 10 million websites.
Basecamp: Communication Tool
Developer tools are not just limited to the ones that let you write code or run a command. Cross-functional collaboration is a crucial aspect of any modern age developer. Let that be getting the right designs, the content or simply connecting with clients to provide top-grade service. In such a case, Basecamp is a tool loved by many developers where they can simply be part of different projects and track the progress across each one of them. It is also a platform where files can be shared and conversations can be started.
Chrome DevTools: One extension for multiple features
Chrome Developer Tools are a bunch of features that make the life of developers easy. The tools will help you in with
- editing pages on the go,
- identifying problems and also
- debugging and prototyping CSS, along with
- analysing load performance.
The tools can be accessed with an easy-to-install plugin which makes it very easy to use and is a must-have from our list.
Notepad++: Text Editor
Developers need to edit code more often. Whether it is CSS code duplication or making content changes on the page, a developer needs to have a handy tool that quickly gets the job done. Notepad++ is the advanced version of Notepad that all of us have been using forever, except for it has features essential for coding. The tools are easy to download from the internet, are free of cost and very easy to learn. You might use these tools at least 100 times a day of coding work.
Visual Studio Code: Freeware Source code editor
The tools help you with operations such as debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring, and embedded Git. The open-source tool can be accessed from different browsers, and operating systems like Windows, LINUX and Mac OS.
Iconfinder: Free icons search engine
Well not always does a developer depend on a designer for icons and images. Using icons in a website or a portal can come across way more often than you may imagine. These basic skills of image resizing will not only come in handy to a developer, but access to an infinite icon hub will do too. You can use an icon finder to find thousands of icons and download them for free. There are different formats available. So whether you need a jpeg or a png, you can choose the format and get the job done in seconds.
Using the tools is much like finding your perfect match(es). Just like you download the apps and stick to the ones which you find useful, functional and have a good interface, developer tools have a similar approach. There are multiple tools to complete one task and the selection of the tool changes from developer to developer depending on personal choices and budget. But if you are a beginner, this list will get you all the needed stuff to code faster.
About the author
Aamer Hussain is a creative writer and has worked in agencies to help develop websites. Now he serves full time as a Content Strategist and shares a passion for startups.
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