Top 7 tools I use for coding

I use additional technologies for projects but these are the primary tools I use to create and maintain code contributions.

1. TextWrangler

Just as with my other apps, speed is always a key feature for me. And TextWrangler is just lightweight and fast. Yes, I know it’s probably not as fully-featured as Sublime Text but I likely don’t need those things. It has all the syntax highlighting, tab, font size, and color customization I want and allows me to work quickly.

2. Transmit

The guys at Panic make great software. I’ve been using it for about seven years and remember recognizing that it was way more feature-rich than clients like Cyber Duck and Fetch. I still find it well designed and appreciate the built-in S3 connection support. It used to have a great image preview pane that loaded remote images on a server which I found very useful and I think they did away with that in a previous version which bummed me out.

3. Beanstalk

Most code is still managed using SVN. I actually like having one central, remote repository for a project. Beanstalk, Wildbit, is also made and supported by this really cool, privately-owned company. I admire them and what their founder, Chris Nagele, has built. They really pay attention to design and simplicity and their products are always improving. They also just built a cool new office in Philly that’s super cool. I recommend their blog too if you’re interested in thoughtful posts on leadership, company culture and product development.

4. Versions

Even though I use it, SVN still annoys and confounds me at times but this simple Mac SVN management app makes it a little easier.

5. MAMP

Really easy to install and manage.

6. Github

Even though I still use SVN quite a bit I love the Github community. I have a few public repositories and one private repo. Over time, I may move more here and use Wildbit’s new DeployBot for deployment.

I think there are wider applications for the software-based organization and collaboration that Github facilitates — a github for healthcare, for instance. Maybe a github for law. Stackoverflow is something like this but maybe their is something more powerful that’s more than just question and answer and more like, “let’s all solve this complicated problem together and let everyone watch (and contribute too) in real-time.”

7. SequelPro

Stop using phpMyAdmin. Start using Sequel Pro. It will add back much time to your life!

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