My Essential Developer's Toolbox – Part I
This is a multi-part post that lists all of the tools that I use on a regular basis as a web developer. The list is Microsoft Windows centric but I will point out the applications that are cross-platform (as best as I can).
IDEs (Integrated Development Environment)*
Microsoft ASP.NET
Both of the IDEs below are top notch and my personal favorites for developing against Microsoft technologies. Both have incredible built in debuggers including JavaScript debugging, drag and drop Web Control functionality, direct SQL Server support, source control support, ASP.NET AJAX integration, the list goes on. Click on the links below to view a full feature list.
Microsoft Visual Web Developer – Free
http://www.microsoft.com/express/vwd/
Microsoft Visual Studio
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vstudio/products/default.aspx
PHP, Perl, Ruby, Java and Other Open Source Technologies
There are a lot more open source and commercial IDEs available for the Open Source technologies that are not listed here and quick search on Google will help if you are looking for something in particular.
I only develop against PHP in the Open Source space so I will list PHP IDEs that I use.
Eclipse PDT Project – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.eclipse.org/pdt/
This is an incredible Open Source (free) project that will give most developers just about every feature you will need. The one thing I must mention about Eclipse is that it is has a huge list of plugins that extend it’s base functionality from integrated database support, just about every programming language support, integrated remote server clients and much more.
EasyEclipse – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.easyeclipse.org/site/home/index.html
Similar to Eclipse PDT but with the most common used plugins already installed. The base Eclipse version may be behind from the latest version.
Zend Studio Professional for Eclipse – Cross Platform
http://www.zend.com/en/products/studio/
My experience with Zend Studio Professional for Eclipse has been mixed. It has all of the base functionality as the Eclipse PDT project (which a lot of Zend Studio is based on) as well as hooks into their proprietary products such as Zend Core and includes support for the PHP/Java bridge.
I love the extra functionality Zend Studio for Eclipse comes with that Eclipse PDT doesn’t have but it is slower and more buggy (crashes and constant workspace builds that run forever). Beyond a few bugs I encounter on a regular basis I believe it is worth the cost of a license since you do get support directly from Zend, a lot of incredible functionality and regular updates from Zend.
Aptana – Free – Cross Platform
http://www.aptana.com/
This is my favorite Eclipse plugin that can also be installed as a stand-alone application. I originally used this plugin for it’s excellent support for HTML, CSS and JavaScript but over time they have included some great tools such as their Jaxer Server and Aptana Cloud. If you are a Zend Studio user you will love the improvement of HTML, CSS and JavaScript support this plugin has over the built in tools. This plugin does support several other languages.
Database Management
Microsoft SQL Server
SQL Server Management Studio Express – Free
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C243A5AE-4BD1-4E3D-94B8-5A0F62BF7796&displaylang=en
This is a great tool to management your SQL Server Express installation. This is a nice addition by Microsoft since the old Express version (MSDE, equivalent to SQL Server 2000) did not come with any managment software.
The biggest drawback to this is it does not have any direct method to backup or export all of your database data. I suggest grabbing a copy of the SQL Server Toolkit and use DTS to handle that or use the tool available from Peter A. Bromberg.
SQL Server Management Studio
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174173.aspx
This is the full version of the SQL Server tools and has everything you need to manage your SQL Server data. A copy usually comes with a full version of Visual Studio.
MySQL
MySQL GUI Tools – Free
http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools/5.0.html
MySQL has provided some basic tools to handle your MySQL installation from server and resource management to a query tool. Very handy but very basic as well. Does not include methods for direct export or import of data.
Navicat – Cross Platform
http://www.navicat.com/
This is the best MySQL management tool I have used. Very straight forward interface with everything you need at your fingertips. Has many data management tools with the ability to import, export, migrate data to and from other MySQL servers, schedule backups, create reports and much more. This is another commercial application that is worth the cost of the license.
They also provide versions for Oracle and PostgreSQL.
Glossary*
IDE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment
Continued
Read on to Part II of the My Essential Developer’s Toolbox series of posts.
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