What tool to use for JavaScript development?

Question

So far I've used Dreamweaver and Eclipse to develop my JavaScript code and tried a bunch of others. And let me say I'm not impressed.

I'd like to think there are better tools out there. Tools that could, for example, give me a hint that something is wrong when I type document.geElementsById before I "build" and test my project. Maybe it could even have a autocomplete/suggestion system, so I don't have to type everything myself (Eclipse has this, but it doesn't work for functions you've defined, only for the built in features).

Let me know your favorites and why you think they're better than the rest.

Answer 1

Use Firebug for Firefox, it'll be your best friend in no time.

As to the reason why it's good... well it's because it's the BEST tool out there in this day and age.

Answer 2

Aptana

Answer 3

I agree that there are not many nice javascript development environment. Last tool that I used is Aptana which is Eclipse based, which is ok for what I was doing. But than again, I'm not a web developer which does a lot of javascript.

If you are using firefox, you can also use firebug or venkman javascript debugger.

Answer 4

JavaScript support has improved a lot in Visual Studio 2008. You get IntelliSense for the basic functions. It's certianly not perfect, but it will pick up things like getElementByID and some of the other basic functions.

The debugging and breakpoints kind of works, but it can be a bit of pain and has crashed a few times on me.

Microsoft added IntelliSense support for jQuery recently although it's not perfect: http://weblogs.asp.net/bradvincent/archive/2008/04/28/better-jquery-intellisense-in-vs2008.aspx

Firebug is a must-have for JavaScript development.

Answer 5

Firebug is priceless, and JSLint can help you track down the obscure little bugs that can be very difficult to find.

Answer 6

Emacs, js2-mode.

Answer 7

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/41880/javascript-ides

and

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/187818/any-ides-for-javascript-html

Answer 8

Activestate's Komodo has decent JavaScript support. It even supports autocompletion for various JavaScript frameworks (YUI, Dojo, etc.). They also have a free version called Komodo Edit. I haven't used that, so I can't really comment on its JavaScript support.

Answer 9

Aptana Jaxer is the best tool I've found to date. It allows you to develop client/server side JavaScript. It incorporates IntelliSense for the major JavaScript Libraries and makes JavaScript development a slightly more pleasent experience.

Answer 10

Try NetBeans.

www.netbeans.org

It has all that you mantioned and all that you need

Answer 11

SciTE is all you need.

Answer 12

SpKet IDE was quite impressive, but I don't think it's techincally "free" to use.

Answer 13

That's me:

var myConf = {
    ide : 'Aptana',
    browser : 'Firefox',
    plugins : [ 
        'Webdeveloper toolbar', 
        'Firebug',
        'Firepallete',
        'FireRainbow',
        'Yslow'
        ],
    support : [ 'IE7-8', 'Safari', 'Opera', 'Chrome']
 }