Best web development software

Eddie · 21 Feb 2010 at 10:38

Dreamweaver gets my vote.

You can get forum packs which are free, or they used to be anyway.

Aod · 21 Feb 2010 at 13:18

shoot1st said:
Dreamweaver gets my vote.

mine too.

theheyes · 21 Feb 2010 at 13:23

There is a HTML, Graphics and Programming forum to look at as well.

deaglecat · 21 Feb 2010 at 15:58

theheyes said:
There is a HTML, Graphics and Programming forum to look at as well.

Thanks - missed that one !

Randomface74 · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:04

Microsoft Visual Web Developer, is the free version of Visual Studio.

Dreamweaver is a disgrace. Anyone using it cannot call themselves a web professional.

asim18 · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:06

I use Dreamweaver and Notepad.

You can also get Expression Web for free if you have a '.ac.uk' email address.

Frozennova · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:07

For designing forums, you want PHPbb or Vbulletin then dreamweaver, notepad++, NVU or just plain old notepad paired up with some kind of graphics program

Personally I stick with notepad and Photoshop no fancy development software.

fini · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:11

Notepad. Worth every penny.

deaglecat · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:22

fini said:
Notepad. Worth every penny.

Yeah, I can see a reason for notepad for fine tuning but does'nt it mean that you pretty much need to be an expert in HTML.

... why not go the whole hog and just use vi ? Far more hardcore than notepad.

Pho · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:36

Unless you're using ASP.NET or something then notepad++ all the way.

It's the best way to learn, and HTML isn't that hard.

fini · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:39

deaglecat said:
Yeah, I can see a reason for notepad for fine tuning but does'nt it mean that you pretty much need to be an expert in HTML.

You need to know how to write your code yes, but honestly the hideousness of the code that WYSIWYG programmes create I quite honestly could not suggest them to anyone. Especially so now that Google has started using page load speed as a ranking metric.

paradigm · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:44

I see no reason to use notepad over notepad++, the styling of the markup just makes for easier reading in notepad++

Pho · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:47

paradigm said:
I see no reason to use notepad over notepad++, the styling of the markup just makes for easier reading in notepad++

I prefer the fact it actually has an undo system greater than one level

.

fini · 21 Feb 2010 at 16:59

I just never got on with notepad++ for some reason. I guess I just like my programs cut back, fast and leaving me with nothing to concentrate on, but the code.

Edward78 · 21 Feb 2010 at 17:11

What is a good wysiwyg designer?

Stag · 21 Feb 2010 at 17:13

Coda.

NathanE · 21 Feb 2010 at 17:34

There is also Notepad2 (google it). It's more minimalist than Notepad++.

It supports syntax highlighting.

swinnie · 21 Feb 2010 at 21:39

Notepad++ has been spot on for my needs. Heavy XHTML, CSS and jQuery Development with some light PHP Development thrown in, also.

For a WYSIWYG Application, it's a close call between Dreamweaver and Expression Web. Dreamweaver has a better feature set, in my opinion. However, Expression Web creates slightly better code, which is more web compliant - as funny as it sounds, particularly coming from Microsoft.

If you're looking at anything "long term" then it's definitely worth developing in 'Code View' - weather it be inside of Dreamweaver/Expression Web or Notepad or it's variants. Learn (X)HTML and CSS, you won't go far wrong as you'll then be able to edit your web pages quicker, and to a higher standard. W3Schools is a good starting point if you're a beginner.

Forum wise, look at phpBB - a very versatile, free forum package.