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Recommended Design & Development Tools
WYSIWYG web development / source code IDE
Dreamweaver has great layout features for graphic designers, allowing you to use a tracing image in the background (so you can arrange your layout on top of it), use layers to place images exactly where you want them, convert the layout from layers to tables (to be compatible with more web browsers) or tables to layers (to easily change the layout of the page; just remember to convert back to tables), and view the page at several different screen resolutions.
Dreamweaver also has great technical features for web programmers. You can see how long the page will take to download. You can also see the HTML code in one window and the WYSIWYG (graphical) view of the web page in another window at the same time. Each window changes automatically to reflect any changes made in the other window. Also important is that Dreamweaver doesn't change your code, is greatly extendable, has site management features, team development capabilities with check out/in, and great maintenance features such as templates, libraries, and find-and-replace at the file, folder, and site levels. In code view, it can format code, autocomplete, and help out with known functions, tags, and tag attributes for ColdFusion, PHP, JSP and ASP development.
For more information, see:
Flash
Animation/movie creation
Add appeal and interaction to the Web with optimal file sizes (much smaller than animated GIFs). Flash movies also stream, so they play while they're still downloading.
For more information, see:
Adobe Photoshop
Graphics and photo editor/compositor
This is the premiere graphics and photo editor used for print and web design. It has powerful filters and image adjustment capabilities that help get you professional results.
For more information, see:
Adobe Illustrator
Illustration tool/vector graphics editor
Create vector graphics to use in your Flash movies and (possibly) soon for web graphics. Vector graphics are much smaller in file size than raster graphics (bitmap, GIF, JPEG, TIF) and scale without any loss of quality.
Vector graphics also print cleaner. So, if you're preparing something for the printshop, Illustrator is great for that too. With its grids, rulers, and crop mark capabilities, you can send your file to the printer exactly as it should be printed. You can also use layers to separate sections that use different inks and convert text to vector outlines so you don't have to worry about the printer having your font.
For more information, see:
Web Browsers
Web page viewers
You need to test your pages in multiple browsers (and multiple OSs if possible) when you author for the general public on the Web.
Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) is recommended for regular design use. It's fast, supports technologies that developers can have fun with, and is the most commonly used browser on the Internet.
Mozilla Firefox is the second most prevalent browser and has a number of good security and privacy features.
Netscape has come a long way from Netscape's earlier days. It is based on Firefox but will use the IE engine on trusted sites. Older versions of Netscape are also good ones to have for testing purposes since not everyone jumps on the bandwagon to upgrade to the latest and best browsers, and these older versions behave very differently from one version to the next.
Ideally, you should also test using older versions of IE, but it is difficult if you don't have multiple test computers and don't already have them installed.
You should also be familiar with AOL's browser.
Development Environments
Tools for back-end programming
The best tool to use generally relies on what back-end technology you're using.
- Microsoft Visual Studio .NET is of course the tool of choice if you're going to be building .NET applications. If building ASP .NET applications and want a lighter or cheaper application, you can try Web Matrix / Visual Web Developer Express, a free WYSIWYG development tool.
Visual Studio Downloads (.NET Framework, code samples, service packs, and more)
Online Documentation
- Dreamweaver in code view is great for ColdFusion, PHP, and simple JSP development and can get you by with ASP pages (though Visual Studio above is recommended for ASP pages). It can format code, autocomplete, and help out with known functions, tags, and tag attributes. Plus Dreamweaver is a great WYSIWYG editor (as mentioned above).
Dreamweaver links above
ColdFusion Server Trial download
JRun Server Trial download
PHP downloads
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