Programming Tools: What and Where?
One of the things I have been interested in lately is what people use for programming. I’ve always been rather simplistic, especially when I was a Windows XP user, sticking to my favourite little application, Crimson Editor.
In reading a post on Compare Degrees, about free programming tools, I noticed that I wasn’t alone in my usage of Crimson Editor, and many other tools that I had once used were also on that list, but is that just because myself, and whomever wrote that post don’t know any better?
Now that I am on a Mac, I still try to stick to open source and free applications, though that is much harder now than it was in either the Windows or Linux worlds, but have I been missing newer, better applications by sticking firm with my old faithfuls?
What applications are people using to develop programs these days? From websites, to compiled executables. What really rings home to you as the best applications available? Where are you finding these applications? Is it through your favourite websites, or do you troll SourceForge, trying out random programs until you find one you like? Almost all of my favourites have either come from recommendations from friends, or from magazines (that’s how old I am).
Check out the list on Compare Degrees, and let me know if they were right in their selections, or dead wrong. I really would love to get together 2009′s ultimate list of programming tools, and I think that you’ll know better than I, since I always stick to the same four or five applications. So please, leave a comment with your suggestions.
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Thanks for the link, I found some useful stuff tools. I use Windows and have been trying to do as much with free/open source applications and tools as possible:
I use Notepad++ as my code editor, and I just recently started exploring Aptana as an IDE. I’m sure it has many good uses but more than anything I’m attracted to the code completion feature – maybe I’m getting lazy..lol.
For browsers I always make sure I have IE and Firefox installed, but recently added Chrome. I tend not to test on Opera, although I probably should.
For doing screencasts I am using Camtasia (the free edition). I just discovered Fireshot and Wink from the link you provided, and will definitely try them for tutorials…
For programming languages – PHP, Python, C, C++ – all free (not good at all of them but learning). I am interested in VB also, and use the free express versions of Visual Studio from Microsoft. I also make much use of Firebug (a firefox extension) and also the Web Developer toolbar.
That’s all I can think of right this moment
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I switched to Mac several months back and I’ve already gone through a number of editors. For compiled applications there is no rivals to Apples’ Xcode, but in terms of web based IDEs there is a lot of choice, just not many free options. I initially continued using Dreamweaver CS3, but found it just didn’t fit the way Mac OS works. I’ve tried Textmate, BBEdit and a raft of other smaller editors and in the end stuck with Coda, an all-in-one editor which just seems to let you glide fluidly through every aspect of making a website.
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jEdit is an incredible programmer’s text editor. Works on any OS that supports java, supports macros, huge library of plug-ins, key combination shortcuts that can be set up on a per programming language basis, ability to work with svn and ftp, automatic backups, ability to edit documents offline and directly on a web host. http://www.jedit.org/
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Emacs. Once you learn it, you won’t have any other text editor. Of course, everyone will say that about their favorite. What does it for me is the vast number of editing shortcuts, which make editing really fly, as well as the editing modes for many different types of text files (programming languages, markup, etc.).
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For coding purposes, I found myself going back and forth from Dreamweaver CS3 (soon I’ll be on CS4) and TextMate. Its hard to decipher which one I prefer because I feel like they each have their advantages and disadvantages: When coding CSS, Dreamweaver helps you out by guessing what style selector you are trying to type. In TextMate, CSS is color coded so you know if you typed the right now selector. For PHP, dreamweaver has it’s own color coding system, and TextMate shows you where your beginning and ending PHP tags are, which can be helpful! And that’s just a snippet. Glad to share!
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When I was on Windows, I prefer Crimson editor too – but now I would recommend Notepadd++ for windows users. That is because Crimson Editor has stopped development. And I am no longer using Windows – I have switched over to Linux. I use Kate/Kwrite as my editors now.
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Textmate. Let one editor to rule them all.
Coding, HTML, Latex etc. And firefox integration and … put yours here.