As the demand for web applications continues to go up, web developers need to step their game and deliver results faster in the most efficient manner possible. How can professionals do this? These website development tools are key.
The Tools of The Trade
The good news is that the development world is currently in an era where web development tools are in more abundant supply than ever before. Below are just a few examples of the top tools for web optimization and beyond that most professional development teams and independent devs use to get their jobs done in the most efficient and productive way possible.
1. GitHub
GitHub is the world’s largest hosting platform for source code. Even new developers know that this is one of the platforms they must join to be part of millions of a vast and global development community. The platform hosts millions of repositories, with over 28 million available to the general public. The good news is that signing up on GitHub is free.
Once developers become registered members, they have the ability to write and host their code for free. With GitHub, they’ll have access to all of their code wherever they are as long they have an internet connection and a computer. It’s also worth noting that it is a web app, so there isn’t a need for downloading its application directly.
GitHub hosts great collaboration features that make it easier to work on projects with fellow developers. It also has automation features enabling devs to speed up their scripting and DevOps processes.
2. Buddy
Buddy is the web tool developers need to speed up development and deployment using the CI/CD methodology. This platform helps build, test, and deploy applications using code from other platforms like GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab. It provides customizable hardware resources that devs can choose from based on the size and hardware demands of their application.
Buddy supports all the most popular programming languages, including Java, Python, PHP, JavaScript, and many more. It also supports most frameworks that work with these languages, such as Django, Ruby on Rails, etc. With Buddy, the most complicated CD/CI workflows become effortless.
In addition to all the above features, Buddy also integrates with other popular platforms, including AWS, Shopify, GitHub, WordPress, BitBucket, and many others. Buddy costs between $35 to $200 per month, depending on the hardware resources required. However, they also have a free package with most of the basic features.
3. Linx
Linx enables faster development and deployment of applications since developers have to write little to no code while using this web development tool. With Linx, engineers have the ability to build APIs, automation solutions, and integrations without depending on infrastructure, code, and frameworks. Most of the code blocks of the applications come pre-built, so developers will spend less time writing code and focus more on the app’s functionality.
It also gives the option of hosting applications in the cloud or on-premise using its built-in management, metrics, and monitoring tools. When it comes to pricing, Linx has plans ranging from $19 to $199 per month that devs can choose from depending on the hardware resources that they require.
4. Bootstrap Studio
This offline desktop application enables front-end developers to create website and app designs using the Bootstrap framework. This tool lets developers build web pages faster since most code blocks are pre-built. Bootstrap has premium templates that help teams effortlessly create several web pages in no time.
These templates are also very customizable, enabling developers to make their apps and websites different from other sites and apps that use the same template. Bootstrap Studio has an editor that allows for the editing of SASS, CSS, JavaScript, and HTML code. This tool also integrates with most text editors, including VS Code, sublime text, Atom, and many more.
5. Atom
Atom is one of the most popular text editors used by millions of developers worldwide. It’s an open-source tool built by GitHub and works on all the popular desktop operating systems, including macOS, Linux, and Windows. It includes an intelligent autocomplete feature that makes writing code much faster.
Atom is also highly customizable, allowing developers to personalize it based on their needs and preferred methods of code editing and creation. Another stand-out feature is that Atom comes with its built-in package manager that makes it easy to browse, search, install, update, and delete packages whenever developers want or need to do so.
6. Sublime Text
For developers who aren’t the biggest fans of Atom, another reliable option is Sublime Text. Sublime Text is light, which makes it super fast and demands fewer hardware resources than Atom. It’s one of the best alternatives for developers writing code using less powerful machines.
Sublime Text features many keyboard shortcuts that help significantly improve the developer’s efficiency. It runs smoothly on all the popular desktop operating systems, including macOS, Linux, and Windows. Since it’s not open source, developers require a license to use this development tool, which costs about $99 per year.
7. NetBeans
NetBeans is an all-in-one development tool developers can use to be more efficient. It has a text editor with intelligent editing features that enable semantically and syntactically highlighting code. Besides the code editor, NetBeans also has a development environment, tooling platform, and application framework.
It supports most of the popular programming languages, including Java, PHP, C++, HTML, and many more. NetBeans can also run on any desktop operating system, including Windows, Linux, and macOS
Final Thoughts
Professional developers can use several other website development tools to be more efficient at what they do. However, the 7 shared above are some of the most popular in the industry at the moment. While devs will certainly not use all of the tools listed above, it’s a good idea for them to keep these excellent resources in their back pocket for future projects and consideration.
If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out our other web development articles.
