Technology stack for web app development

Question

What technologies do you use for web application development? I'm presenting my approach and tools that I have been used as an example:

• Graphics Design (Adobe Photoshop)
• HTML Coding (Dreamweaver)
• Server side programming (Apache, PHP, MySQL, Smarty)
• Client side programming (JavaScript, Flash)

I have not been creating web apps for a few years now and I think I'm a bit behind from the state of the art. Please share with your experience.

Answer 1

Graphics Design: GIMP
HTML Coding: I use vi, the rest of the group uses whatever they prefer
Server Side: Eclipse and/or RAD (Java Spring)
Client-side: We use a lot of DWR, and have the Eclipse plug-in for it (DWR, Javascript)

In the past, I have used the LAMP stack, but for enterprise apps, we lean Java.

Answer 2

I use the same general skillset, except I live on the Microsoft side of the fence, which means Visual Studio 2008, SQL 2005/2008, and IIS 7.

The only area where I feel a little shaky is the Photoshop side. I would like to be able to whip up some quick gradient buttons whenever I want, but I rely on others for that.

Which is fine really. You have to specialize to some degree.

I am starting to probe things like Silverlight 2. But it seems like another paradign shift as far as data access goes.

Answer 3

I use pretty much the .NET technology stack.

• Graphics Design: Paint.NET
• HTML Coding: Previously used notepad++ but have just started using Expression Web 2.0 and it is pretty nice.
• Server Side: .NET 3.5, ASP.NET MVC, nHibernate
• Client Size: jQuery / Javascript

Answer 4

You list PHP as your server scripting language, you might want to look into some of the frameworks that are out there:

Codeigniter
KohanaPHP
CakePHP

It's always good to use a framework (prevents you from re-inventing the wheel).

If you're more into building content heavy sites than I recommend looking into Drupal. They say it's a CMS but I consider it more an application framework with CMS features.

Answer 5

• Graphics Design: GIMP, but at the more professional places Photoshop CS3 always prevails
• HTML Coding: Editplus, Firebug for rapid dev and I wouldn't trust IDE generated code *at all**
• Server Side: .NET 2, C#, XSLT, postgres
• Client-side: my own javascript library, mootools for ani, jquery where suitable

*really really not at all

(big love for cakephp if I'm not in .net)

Answer 6

Long ago I fell deep into the minimalist mindset.

• Code: Notepad (or Notepad++), gedit
• Graphics: Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape
• Server Side: Python, PHP, XML, MySQL

Answer 7

My web development stack looks as follows:

• GIMP - graphics works. GIMP is powefull, open source and easy to use and learn.
• PHP Designer - IDE of choice for doing web development. I use it for HTML, CSS, PHP and javascript coding
• XAMPP - LAMP stack of choice for both linux and win development. Easy to install, it comes with all the goodies needed (XDebuh, PhpMyAdmin ...). I only configure the MySQL database to store all its data internally in UTF-8.
• Firefox with Firebug plugin
• Internet Explorer 6 and 7
• PHPUnit for PHP unit testing
• .NET 3.5 SDK , C#, Nunit and Watin for doing automated user interface testing
• Cruise Control.NET for continous integration
• SVN with TortuiseSVN for Source Control
• Mantis for issue tracking
• MediaWiki for project documentation
• VMWare for creating and running project specific virtual machines

Answer 8

For JavaScript try Aptana Studio: it's available as an Eclipse plugin or a stand alone app (uses Eclipse core anyway). I don't know how I survived without it.

The Link

Answer 9

I develop for tomcat using on OSX...

• graphics: GraphicConverter
• coding: BBEdit
• XSLT debugging: Oxygen
• JavaScript debugging: Firebug
• build process: Ant
• database: Oracle
• MVC framework: tox