# professional web developers?



## jthompsonjr (Nov 19, 2006)

Those of you that do this for a living.....

What tools do you use to code your websites? 100% notepad, Notepad + or some other web editor, Dreamweaver, etc.

Does anyone still use image maps or iFrames or are those just "extras" that are cool but not used on a regular basis.

Thanks-- putting together some edits on a web design course and trying to figure out what to include and what to leave out.

Thanks!


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## colinsp (Sep 5, 2007)

Notepad++, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Firefox with Firebug, Wamspserver and Filezilla are the tools I use on a regular basis.


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

I use Notepad++ in conjunction with xampp where I do all my client and server side testing and of course good ol' Filezilla to update online....

I've never used iframes, but have used image maps a few times.


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## bizgec (Mar 14, 2013)

I use Eclipse PDT with zend server which allows me to debug PHP code with breakpoints and all that stuff.


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## allnodcoms (Jun 30, 2007)

Dreamweaver is my editor of choice. Hacking the manila HTML is great for scripting, but I like to be able to throw layouts together with a WYSIWYG editor. It's also a lot easier to get your CSS right when you get instant feedback.
Been using it for about 15 years, from the old Macromedia days up to my current Adobe CS5 version.

I need an Apache server for my PHP/MySQL work (which is about 99% of what I do). As I'm on Macs I use MAMP.

Photoshop and Illustrator handle my graphics work, and I don't think I've ever even booted up Flash!

I use image maps quite a lot. When you have irregular logo images, circular for example, it's nice to just have the main graphic as a link back to home, and maps handle that nicely. They have other uses, but those are more of an exception than a rule.

I use iFrames for basic, static stuff, but AJAX is taking over for me when it comes to dynamic content pulled from a server. It means a bit more scripting on both ends but is far more interactive, and the URL's look nicer! 

You didn't ask about browsers, but Safari is my default (remembering I'm on Macs). I use the web inspector a lot! I also have the majors installed, Chrome, Firefox and "Oprah". I have a 17" Windoze Lappy that handles the IE testing (and very little else to be fair).

Hardware setup is a 27" iMac, 16GB RAM, 1GB GPU and 1TB HD with 3TB backup drive and 2TB file server. I also have an external 22" monitor (usually displaying reference material and PHPMyAdmin)

Hope that helps...

Danny


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## php guy (Dec 17, 2004)

+1 for Eclipse


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## DrP (Jul 23, 2005)

I use Sublime Text 2 for building, and work with designs in Illustrator and/or Photoshop. One of our designers prefers Illustrator while the other likes Photoshop. Both are fine by me, though I use Illustrator if I do any design work myself.

Working locally, I use Wampserver, then I use FileZilla for transferring files to the remote server.

Browserwise, I mostly use Firefox with the web developer toolbar and Firebug for troubleshooting and monitoring. Over the last year or so I've been using Google Chrome more and more, mainly because I find Firefox buggy when working with smaller responsive layouts.

And I use Windows 8 Pro.

Oh, and what have iframes got to do with any of this?


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## caraewilton (Nov 7, 2007)

I use a html editor called Webuilder for coding. Images are done in corel draw. Design normally starts with pen and paper, then images are created, while I code the site, step by step. I test in chrome and firefox, opera and IE. My aim is to try get everything done with html and css. Javascript for the special effects but site must work regardless of javascript being enabled. Once I have a working prototype, I convert to php so various things can be automated.


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## ckphilli (Apr 29, 2006)

I use notepad ++ for everything, honestly. Of course, my job is not heavily dependent on images...so I don't need an illustrator. I have yet to find a whiz bang javascript debugger that does any better than ie, chrome and my eyes...so I won't list the ones I've tried. I have found a great deal of use with slickgrid, jqwidgets and of course jquery. It's my opinion that the toolbox contents depend on the job.


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## _Adelphia (Oct 12, 2012)

+1 for notepad++. I don't understand why DW is so popular. It can get pretty confusing if you're editing a thousand lines of code and have a million little buttons and switches to keep track of as well. I prefer to keep it simple.

For designing (HTML/CSS/JS) I use all browsers. Safari, FF, IE, Chrome, etc. It's important to have a collection if you're doing client-side stuff. Personally I only use Javascript for form handling with the exception of Ajax.

I use frames occasionally but more for use with cURL and programs that do things like scrape websites. Not for building a regular website. There's no excuse for using frames.

I like image maps. They're easy, widely supported and depending how creative you are, they can make for a really cool website.

Photoshop for images but I don't do much of that.


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## ckphilli (Apr 29, 2006)

I'm having a go with netbeans as well...seems nice so far...but it's hard for me to let go of notepad++.


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## geek_geko (Mar 31, 2013)

Wordpress as the main structure / starting point of building a site. Then a theme from a decent company. Then I use Dreamweaver, Notepad++ to code the modifications that are needed to configure the site. And, Photoshop and Illustrator for he graphics.


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## allnodcoms (Jun 30, 2007)

ckphilli said:


> I'm having a go with netbeans as well...seems nice so far...but it's hard for me to let go of notepad++.


I've also had a play with Netbeans, but found Aptana Studio quicker, less memory intensive and easier to use... May be worth a look?

Danny


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## ckphilli (Apr 29, 2006)

allnodcoms said:


> I've also had a play with Netbeans, but found Aptana Studio quicker, less memory intensive and easier to use... May be worth a look?
> 
> Danny


Yup, bookmarked for my next project. Thanks Danny.


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

As far as images are concerned, I use Gimp - open source (free) and fairly sophisticated...


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## ckphilli (Apr 29, 2006)

allnodcoms said:


> I've also had a play with Netbeans, but found Aptana Studio quicker, less memory intensive and easier to use... May be worth a look?
> 
> Danny





ckphilli said:


> Yup, bookmarked for my next project. Thanks Danny.


Let me preface this by saying I am VERY impatient with tools. 

Most of my development involves connecting to SharePoint. I've been partial to notepad++ because it's way less clunky than SharePoint Designer and Visual Studio takes too much to make it look the way I like when coding. Netbeans was good for a bit...then it started acting nutty. Like I said, I don't have the patience for 'nutty'. So I installed Aptana and all I can say is "wow" so far. I get the look I want with no configuration and don't have to deal with the annoying highlighting in netbeans...and it's MUCH less memory intensive(like you said). Thanks Danny, good call.


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

> Thanks Danny, good call.


Aaaah! De little fella is full of good advice Chris!:up:


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## allnodcoms (Jun 30, 2007)

JiminSA said:


> Aaaah! De little fella is full of good advice Chris! :up:


Cheers guys, I feel all warm and fluffy now... 

Danny


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

Danny, does Aptana have a "session" facility like Notepad++'s load session/save session? I find this most useful when working on several projects simultaneously... (If it does, I'm switching, 'cos I like Aptana's visual format)


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## ckphilli (Apr 29, 2006)

allnodcoms said:


> Cheers guys, I feel all warm and fluffy now...
> 
> Danny


:up:


JiminSA said:


> Danny, does Aptana have a "session" facility like Notepad++'s load session/save session? I find this most useful when working on several projects simultaneously... (If it does, I'm switching, 'cos I like Aptana's visual format)


If I may...

It's worth your time Jim. Quick download, quick install. It acts much the same as notepad++/ Not sure how much it has to do with your question, but as I said, 90% of my work is connected to files on SharePoint. I open them, work...go home...open again, work...and come back to work...open again and work without missing a beat. In other words, it's taking care of my sessions nicely, even though they aren't local files. Hope this helps...


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

> It's worth your time Jim. Quick download, quick install. It acts much the same as notepad++/ Not sure how much it has to do with your question, but as I said, 90% of my work is connected to files on SharePoint. I open them, work...go home...open again, work...and come back to work...open again and work without missing a beat. In other words, it's taking care of my sessions nicely, even though they aren't local files. Hope this helps...


Thanks for the input Chris - I realise that it holds the current session between loads, but I often need to switch to a different local folder containing all relevant docs, which Notepad++ does nicely. I was just hoping Aptana had something similar...


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## allnodcoms (Jun 30, 2007)

You're talking about "Projects" Jim, and yes, you can switch back and forth between different 'sites' (root folders, remote hosts and so on). It's a doodle...

Danny


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## JiminSA (Dec 15, 2011)

Super - I'm going Aptana - bye-bye ol' friend, Notepad++
(By the way Danny, love your typo


> It's a doodle...


doodle is something we practiced at the cinema on Saturday nights, methinks


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## allnodcoms (Jun 30, 2007)

Damn you predictive text!

Danny


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## Grob needs help (Mar 3, 2009)

i use bluefish, gedit and genie for the codeing
filezilla for the uploads
Gimp for image editing
and lammp (as i am on linux) for php testing with most of the common browsers


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