Some Web Development Tools
IDEs - Integrated Development Environments
An IDE, or Integrated Development Environment, enables programmers to consolidate the different aspects of writing a computer program. IDEs increase programmer productivity by combining everyday software activities into a single application: editing source code, building executables, and debugging.
Eclipse
is an integrated development environment (IDE) used in computer programming. It contains a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for customizing the environment. Eclipse is written mainly in Java, and its primary use is for developing Java applications. However, it may also be used to develop applications in other programming languages via plug-ins, including Ada, ABAP, C, C++, C#, Clojure, COBOL, D, Erlang, Fortran, Groovy, Haskell, JavaScript, Julia, Lasso, Lua, NATURAL, Perl, PHP, Prolog, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), Rust, Scala, and Scheme. It can also be used to develop documents with LaTeX (via a TeXlipse plug-in) and packages for the software Mathematica. Development environments include the Eclipse Java development tools (JDT) for Java and Scala, Eclipse CDT for C/C++, and Eclipse PDT for PHP.
IntelliJ
is an integrated development environment (IDE) written in Java for developing computer software. JetBrains developed it (formerly known as IntelliJ) and is available as an Apache 2 Licensed community edition and in a proprietary commercial edition. Both can be used for commercial development.
Visual Studio Code
is a source code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring, and embedded Git. Users can change the theme, keyboard shortcuts, preferences, and install extensions that add additional functionality.
Frameworks
A software framework is a set of pre-written code and tools that provide a foundation for building a software application. It serves as a skeletal structure that can be modified and extended by developers to create custom solutions that meet their specific needs. Frameworks are designed to be flexible and modular, allowing developers to easily add or remove components as needed.
They also provide a consistent structure and set of conventions, making it easier for developers to build and maintain software applications. By providing a standardized way to build and deploy applications, frameworks can help streamline the development process and improve the reliability and maintainability of the resulting software.
Example of a JavaScript Framework: Next.js
Next.js is a React framework that enables several extra features, including server-side rendering and generating static websites. React is a JavaScript library traditionally used to build web applications rendered in the client's browser with JavaScript. However, developers recognize several problems with this strategy, such as not catering to users who do not have access to JavaScript or have disabled it, potential security issues, significantly extended page loading times, and it can harm the site's overall search engine optimization.
Frameworks such as Next.js sidestep these problems by allowing some or all of the website to be rendered on the server-side before being sent to the client. Next.js is one of the most popular components available in React. It is one of several recommended "toolchains" available when starting a new app, all of which provide a layer of abstraction to aid in everyday tasks. Next.js requires Node.js and can be initialized using Node Package Manager.
Google has donated to the Next.js project, contributing 43 pull requests in 2019, where they helped in pruning unused JavaScript, reducing overhead time, and adding improved metrics. As of March 2020, the framework is used by many large websites, including Netflix, GitHub, Uber, Ticketmaster, and Starbucks. In early 2020, it was announced that Vercel had secured twenty-one million dollars in Series A funding to support improvements to the software.
Example of a CSS Framework: Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a free and open-source CSS framework directed at responsive, mobile-first front-end web development. Bootstrap contains CSS and (optionally) JavaScript-based design templates for typography, forms, buttons, navigation, and other interface components. As of August 2021, Bootstrap is the tenth most starred project on GitHub, with over 152,000 stars, behind freeCodeCamp (over 328,000 stars), Vue.js framework, React library, TensorFlow, and others.
Other Frameworks
There are other frameworks for different languages, and they should be taken advantage of. Please make sure any code you use is optimized. Think about the earth and the energy savings that can come from optimized code.
Other Web Development Tools
Aside from IDEs and Frameworks used daily on our team, there are tools like Chrome Dev Tools for testing and debugging, Github, Gitlab, Command-Line, and many others, which are not listed here. Take time to research what is needed and select the tools accordingly. Remember, Tools are designed to make work easier and more efficient.
