Tell-A-Tool: Guide to Web Design and Development Tools

Code Editors

Visual Studio Code

Type: Free

This tool developed by Microsoft is a source code editor and supports and aids debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, etc. It also has embedded Git control, code refactoring, and customization features. On visual studio code, you can debug your code from the editor and attach your code to running apps. It also has built-in Git commands making it extremely comfortable to work with Git.

2. NetBeans

Type: Free

NetBeans provides frameworks for swing applications. It saves the developer’s time as it does the plumbing by providing reliable architectural support to developers. NetBeans also has a community portal that allows you to interact with inquisitive developers like you. Moreover, it gives you lifecycle management support for Java applications. It's comprised of a standardized UI toolkit and data-oriented components.

3. Brackets

Type: Free

An open source code editor for HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This tool is for everyone who wants to avoid clutter while coding. Brackets’s quick edit feature lets you edit the code to keep the context specification. It works in sync with your browser and, hence, you can see the edited code in the browser view and easily making code editing an fast process. The only shortcoming one might face with Brackets is that it doesn’t have an auto-completion feature.

4. Adobe Muse

Type: Paid (Adobe Muse is available on Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription on a monthly subscription basis).

Adobe Muse is a great tool for graphic designers or front-end developers who are accustomed to coding. Don’t confuse this tool with WordPress or Wix.com because it doesn’t give you a ready-made layout or drag and drop options.

5. Adobe Dreamweaver

Type: Paid (Like all the Adobe tools this one is a software, and you can subscribe every month by opting for their plans).

Adobe Dreamweaver is a tool designed for websites at all stages and web developers of all skill levels. From the intuitive code editing features to live views, it gives you a variety of options to design and edit your website. You can be at ease even while editing web pages. Just connect to the server, download files, edit, and upload it back to the server.

This tool is one of the Adobe’s best options for website developers.

6. Sketch App

Source: GitHub

Type: Paid (You just has to pay a one-time fee to access Sketch).

Sketch has already garnered a lot of attention from the web-developer community because of how easy it makes designing and slicing. This tool has a magical CSS logic which converts your designs into CSS. The automatic slicing feature takes the pain away of manually slicing your designs.

The most loved feature of this tool is its ability to view your website on any mobile device. Hence, you can check the compatibility of your website on different devices.

7. Adobe Photoshop

Source: Windows10

Type: Paid (Same as other Adobe tools).

With Adobe Photoshop, you can create, filter, and mask images and do so much more. It’s a one-stop destination for photo editing, graphic designing, and digital image creation. Hence, if you are someone who wants to make a website extraordinarily creative or add that extra oomph factor, look no more, because Adobe Photoshop is hands-down your best option. After you have created your designs, you can transfer your creations to Macaw or Fireworks and make that website live.

The one drawback of this tool is that it needs some prior experience or understanding of the software. Apart from this, this is an excellent tool for someone who wants to make a personalized website that stands out of the clutter.

8. Chrome DevTools

Type: A default tool with Google Chrome.

DevTools come in-built to Google Chrome and by pressing Ctrl+Shift+I on Windows system and Cmd+opt+I on Mac you can open these tools to play around with your website. This tool is recommended after you have finished making your website yet need to fix some bugs.

With Chrome DevTools you can check fix elements of your website that aren’t working correctly.

9. Sublime Text 2

Type: Can be downloaded and evaluated for free (with the option to purchase a license).

This is the best code editing tool out there with some key features such as Syntax highlight, automated phrasing, a command completion feature, and much more. It works great on both Mac and Windows systems.

10. WAMP/MAMP

Source: Wikipedia

Type: Free

WAMP and MAMP are software that allows local web hosting and can be incorporated into your database engine and PHP processing. Testing your website by installing a local web server is far easier as well as cheaper than buying an account just to host and test the prototype. Hence, it’s a testing platform and absolutely free to use.

WAMP is meant for windows operating systems whereas MAMP is intended for Mac devices.

11. Balsamiq

Type: Free

Balsamiq is a tool used for wireframing websites, i.e., creating blueprints for the website even before making a prototype. This is useful for people who are in the early stages of brainstorming their website.

You can make a blueprint to assess all the elements that will go on the website and improvise on Balsamiq as and when needed.

Agile Tools

12. GIT/SVN

Type: Paid (monthly subscription).

GitHub is one of the best tools available out there for developers with code reviews and conversations around it with pull requests. One can also buy apps from GitHub to make the processes more efficient. You can check the status of projects and commits along with the person’s name and access control.

Apart from these incredible features, it also allows you to integrate it with other apps such as Slack, Atom, and Codeship.

13. Basecamp

Type: Paid (monthly subscription). 

This is the best project and team management tool available, with a one-stop destination to share files, notes, to-do lists, etc. You can also arrange your schedules for yourself and for your team. Hence, it eliminates the need to use various apps, making it a go-to platform for all your project management requirements.

Definitely a blessing for agile product development projects!

14. Jira

Type: Paid (Annual subscription based on a number of users).

With a customizable dashboard and features that let you track bugs and issues for mobile and software development processes, Jira is a perfect platform for bug tracking and project management.

15. Slack

Type: Free

Slack is one of the most popular and widespread project management tools out there. Project management tools such as Blossom can be connected to Slack and all the clutter and chaos with respect to managing the projects is eliminated. You don’t have to keep your screens open all day long to track the progress or updates as slack will directly notify you, allowing you to avoid all the hassle of pinning and bookmarking those windows.

It’s a great application for remote teams as it makes communication far easier than sending emails back and forth.

16. Skype

Type: Free

Skype has a developer platform which provides resources, interactive SDKs, and references along with code samples. It also lays out instruction manuals and very clear and precise interfaces to avoid any clutter and time consumption.

Their UCWA, i.e. unified communications web API, (a mobile applications and web development tool), is available for businesses who are using Skype for business. It’s a language-agnostic tool and, hence, gives you the flexibility to choose from any programming language you want.