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jamil5454 · Aug 27, 2007, 02:10 AM

One thing I've loved about my Mac is how easy it is to do web development on. There are a number of great editors and ftp applications which make the development simple and straightforward. Alas, I'm going to be stuck on a PC for a while and need to work on a couple sites, so can anyone recommend a good code editor and ftp application for Windows? On the Mac side I used Coda, which was fantastic, but before that I stuck with Cyberduck for FTP and TextWrangler for text editing. It seems that all the good stuff is shareware on the Windows and the great free web dev software is nonexistent.

And please don't say Dreamweaver or Visual Web Developer Express, although Visual Studio is a great dev environment.

iMOTOR · Aug 27, 2007, 02:38 AM

Notepad

Come on, there's no such thing as being stuck Macless. Bring a powerbook with you.

BTW: There is a development forum here.

design219 · Aug 27, 2007, 06:47 AM

What do you have against Dreamweaver?

MacosNerd · Aug 27, 2007, 06:59 AM

DreamWeaver,

I use it on my Mac, and where I work uses it for web development (on a peecee). Great application.

If you want just a text editor, then I suggest UltraEdit This is probably the best text editor I've ever used (on the peecee).

Faust · Aug 27, 2007, 08:28 AM

There are many FTP applications for Wiindows. I used CuteFTP and FlashFXP. They're both good really. I had come to prefer FlashFXP, however.

Texteditors: I think the closest to Panic or Macromate products you can get with Windows editors would currently have to be E Text Editor. It's quite close to Textmate.

Lava Lamp Freak · Aug 27, 2007, 08:30 AM

I use TextMate on the Mac. There are two apps in development for Windows now that are trying to bring the power of TextMate to Windows. They have made my life much easier when I am forced to work on a PC.

E - TextEditor | The power of TextMate on Windows
Intype

wallinbl · Aug 27, 2007, 09:01 AM

You know you can use VS Express as a text editor and skip all the other features, right? I quite like the editor.

irunat2am · Aug 27, 2007, 09:10 AM

SmartFTP is the ftp program I've used for years. It's free, piece of cake, and dead sexy. Get it

SmartFTP - FTP Client

Notepad++ has syntax highlighting and all that good stuff, without being super bulky and annoying.
SourceForge.net: Notepad++

torsoboy · Aug 27, 2007, 09:36 AM

For an FTP application FireFTP will do everything you want it to, and it is built into FireFox (with an add-on of course).

I have tried UltraEdit, and a *bunch* of other ones. I think pretty much one is as good as another if you don't want anything fancy. Some of them offer inline help/auto complete for PHP and HTML, so that is helpful sometimes.

torsoboy · Aug 27, 2007, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by wallinbl

You know you can use VS Express as a text editor and skip all the other features, right? I quite like the editor.

That's true if you are doing ASP development, but for most other languages it isn't too good. A lot of bulk for a non-helpful editor.

Super Mario · Aug 27, 2007, 09:50 AM

If you're serious Dreamweaver because it supports everything from CSS to Ruby, PHP to ASP, MySQL to .NET, etc etc, support for various databases, built in Site Manager, and has a wicked plugin architecture. Get it as part of the Design Premium suite for best value.

If you're a wannabe (the type who think Linux and GIMP is good for publishing) then a mix of apps like BB Edit, Transmit, yadda yadda.

Faust · Aug 27, 2007, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by Super Mario

If you're a wannabe (the type who think Linux and GIMP is good for publishing) then a mix of apps like BB Edit, Transmit, yadda yadda.

Okay. I dislike Gimp. I absolutely love Transmit. What kind of statement is that?

Kevin · Aug 27, 2007, 10:23 AM

Yeah Gimp sucks for publishing.. transmit is great for FTP.. And BBEdit is great for editing code in general.

I don't know what he means by that either.

BTW didn't dreamweaver COME with BBEdit on the Mac side? I think the last version I had to actually buy did at one time.

BBedit + Dreamweaver Is what I usually use to do web pages. Do the main layout in Dreamweaver, and then fix up the code in BBEdit. Then I use Transmit to FTP.

Not that I am any "PROFESSIONAL" web designer... but I aint no wanna be.

Silliness.

Super Mario · Aug 27, 2007, 10:55 AM

:chuckles quietly in the corner:

jamil5454 · Aug 27, 2007, 11:17 AM

Thanks for all the responses. The reason I decided against Dreamweaver is mainly that I know I don't need it. The stuff I'll be working on is mostly simple html/php/javascript and integrating into existing applications (which I don't have full code control over). And the sites I do control will be very simple. SmartFTP and Notepad++ look to be great candidates.

Super Mario · Aug 27, 2007, 11:19 AM

As long as you remember to save your files in UTF-8 or whatever the correct format.

Kevin · Aug 27, 2007, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by Super Mario

:chuckles quietly in the corner:

Faust · Aug 27, 2007, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by Kevin

Yeah Gimp sucks for publishing.. transmit is great for FTP.. And BBEdit is great for editing code in general.

I don't know what he means by that either.

BTW didn't dreamweaver COME with BBEdit on the Mac side? I think the last version I had to actually buy did at one time.

BBedit + Dreamweaver Is what I usually use to do web pages. Do the main layout in Dreamweaver, and then fix up the code in BBEdit. Then I use Transmit to FTP.

Not that I am any "PROFESSIONAL" web designer... but I aint no wanna be.

Silliness.

Gimp for publishing?

BBEdit comes with Dreamweaver?

Aaaaaah ... now I get it. You guys are having some fun, ey? Duh, I'm so awkwardly slow.

Kevin · Aug 27, 2007, 12:22 PM

Originally Posted by Faust

Gimp for publishing?

Yes thats a joke

(does it even do CMYK yet?)

BBEdit comes with Dreamweaver?

Tools for Site Building: BBEdit

"There is also 'cross-upgrade' pricing for customers who received older versions of BBEdit bundled with Dreamweaver."

At one time it did happen.

shifuimam · Aug 27, 2007, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by design219

What do you have against Dreamweaver?

It's bloated, overpriced, and creates incredibly messy and badly-formed code. Learn how to code by hand before you start using a WYSIWYG app. Or, don't use a WYSIWYG app at all. It just ends up generating crappy code that makes your files larger than necessary.

Originally Posted by irunat2am

Notepad++ has syntax highlighting and all that good stuff, without being super bulky and annoying.
SourceForge.net: Notepad++

Another vote for Notepad++. It has all the features of UltraEdit-32 11 except for auto-indent and auto-outdent (unindent? whatever..), including the ability to collapse blocks of code - very handy for pages full of PHP, ASP, Java, etc.

Originally Posted by torsoboy

For an FTP application FireFTP will do everything you want it to, and it is built into FireFox (with an add-on of course).

A+++ for FireFTP. Fast, easy, built into FireFox, free. I use WinSCP for SFTP and SCP (also free, and it has a portable version that requires no installation).

[edit]I have tried UltraEdit, and a *bunch* of other ones. I think pretty much one is as good as another if you don't want anything fancy. Some of them offer inline help/auto complete for PHP and HTML, so that is helpful sometimes.[/QUOTE]

I've used many of the paid, free, and open-source text editors. UltraEdit-32 11 has my top vote, but it's pricey, and Notepad++ has nearly all the same features while still being open-source (and thereby free).

exca1ibur · Aug 27, 2007, 12:36 PM

I use BBEdit and YummyFTP on my Mac. I used to use Transmit. It had an issue blanking out files when you save to the server, and tech support left me hanging for months. I also use VI as backup.

For Windows I mostly use VI (through Putty) and WS_FTP Pro. Mainly because that is what was on there. Dreamweaver is on there as well, but I don't like it much. Too much crap in the way, I just like to get right to the code and go.