Dreamweaver or The Dream Team

Or speed-dating for web applications...

At last night’s GlasMug meeting we did ‘Speed Dating for Mac Apps’, in which we had a (very) quick look at 30 applications in 60 minutes. I had the fun task of showing off some applications for web development: my personal ‘Dream Team’ when it comes to writing HTML and CSS.

HTML Editing

When it comes to editing HTML I want an editor that helps out as much as possible: eliminating common errors, speeding up repetitive tasks; and doing it all in a way that doesn’t make me scream. For me that editor is TextMate.

TextMate has an awesome set of features and I still feel as if I am just scratching the surface. Code-completion and color syntax highlighting are just the start, as TextMate provides an incredible list of shortcuts for entering and editing text, whether you’re editing HTML or any one of over 50 other languages. At just €39 it easily paid for itself in terms of increased productivity.

CSS Editing

While TextMate has good support for CSS I wanted something that made working with CSS even easier: support for navigating lengthy stylesheets; the ability to either enter rules textually or with visual editors; and, once again, do it in a way that doesn’t make me scream. That application was CSSEdit 2.5.

CSSEdit is an application that you can easily fall in love with. (Well, if you’re a web developer, and if you’re in the habit of falling in love with applications). It makes working with stylesheets really easy: code-completion and syntax coloring help enter and edit text, while visual editors help pick styles quickly and easily. There are a whole load of nice little features which show the depth of thought that has gone into the application, along with lots of high-level features that make web development a lot easier: milestones provide a useful safety-net, while the X-ray option is invaluable in debugging webpage layouts. At $29.95 it easily paid for itself on the very first stylesheet.

Local web hosting

Hosting a website on your own Mac during development is fairly easy, but it isn’t as convenient as it could be. One application that can make virtual hosting a lot easier is Headdress.

Headdress makes it easy to manage multiple virtual hosts on your own Maso you can easily preview multiple local websites during development. While I don’t currently use it (we have some weird hosting requirements and I don’t mind messing around on the command line) it is an application that we highly recommend for the ease with which it sets up virtual hosts. Headdress is $14.99.

Other applications

The great thing about web development on the Mac right now is the wide range of really great applications. These apps are my personal Dream Team, hopefully you can find your own Dream Team too.