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We are experiencing an increasing rate of innovation in web development. We see the change that was not available 5 to 10 years ago—such a dynamic improvement in seamless and responsive web design. We see so much improvement in our online browsing experience that we forget how it was before this millennium. We now generate analytics that helps decrease maintenance expenses and improves ROI for the business. Web development tools assist designers and developers in interpreting ideas to integrate with different technologies available.
The demand for browser apps will continue to grow. As this trend continues, developers need versatile tools to help them meet the demand. The vast libraries available for a designer are increasing too. Community members, as well as established institutions, are all contributing to this enormous pool, to open possibilities that realize the potential of working together. A designer’s hurdle would be information overload and sifting through this collection of apps, frameworks, and libraries.
Table of Contents
1. CodePen
CodePen is an online code editor that offers an environment where front-end designers and developers are allowed to make, deploy, and build tests for a faster and smoother web experience for the end-user. CodePen provides the convenience of seeing real-time change as you develop your program as it allows live sync and live view.
2. Saas
Saas is considered the most stable and mature CSS extension language that allows the use of variables that would help in sharing designs within projects. This scripting language built several frameworks. In its website, Sass is considered CSS with superpowers. With it, the organization of large Stylesheets is possible. At the same time, it supports multiple inheritances and features Variables, Arguments, Loops, and Nesting. It is also free and has a large community where you can interact and get inspiration and help.
3. Grunt
Grunt is the preferred tool for task automation. It is a task runner on NodeJS that offers a lot of bundled plugins that make tasks more manageable. Grunt speeds up the process and performance of projects. It also features the automation of repetitive tasks making the workflow easier.
4. Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a free and open-source toolkit that provides help to developers with HTML, CSS, and JS. It offers several templates for your web projects as it has been used to create and develop responsive mobile-first projects. Bootstrap is a front-end library that has extensive pre-built components.
5. Github
Github is the software development platform that provides project management features that allows you to create and develop processes for your code and make it fit your workflow. It has functions that encompass not just code review and development but also project management, team management, code hosting, and documentation.
6. Foundation
Foundation is a front-end framework that makes it easy to design responsive emails, apps, and websites. Though optimized for mobile devices, this framework is for any device, medium, and accessibility. Foundation is customizable for developers of all levels. It also takes responsive design to accommodate tablets with the much-needed medium grid. With Foundation, development and page load speed becomes faster.
7. Meteor
Meteor is a full-stack Javascript framework made up of a collection of libraries and packages. With Meteor, development time speeds up significantly on any project as it comes with several built-in features that include front-end libraries and NODE js-based server.
8. Angular
Angular is a Javascript framework created and maintained by the Angular team at It is a TypeScript-based open-source web application that applies to different platforms making it a great platform to build apps for desktop, mobile, and web. Angular is a complete rewrite of Angular js done by the original team of developers.
9. NPM
NPM is a package manager for the Javascript programming language and the Javascript runtime environment NODE js. It simplifies package management with security groups and a one-click configuration.
10. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a text code editor that allows you to open files using the Goto Anything command. It is accessible in different platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux), enables quick navigation, provides adaptive matching of commands, and simultaneous editing. It also has a Python-based plugin API that allows Sublime Text to offer more built-in functionality.
Conclusion: Tools to Help You, Not Burden You
Expectations rose with the development of these tools. So much more is now expected from web developers because of these tools. A designer must now be able to do more than just design. He also needs to have insight about marketing goals and strategies, some admin functions for site administration, even to secure the protection against hackers and cyberattacks is also part of his duties now. Cross-functional duties become more apparent and defined as the web development/design teams begin to implement changes using these tools. These changes show that the developer or designer is growing and moving forward, along with the advancement of technology. But these web developer tools are not supposed to burden a developer. These tools should be helping experts enhance and even highlight their specially skills even further, not overshadow them. For the amateurs, it is not supposed to overwhelm them but should encourage them to release and augment the potential already within them that are just waiting for opportunities to be utilised. The more you learn about each of these tools, the more you can integrate them seamlessly with each other, and unto the website, elevating the quality of service you are giving to your clients and consumers. That’s the beauty of these tools.
Author’s Bio:
John Ocampos is an Opera Singer by profession and a member of the Philippine Tenors. Ever since, Digital Marketing has always been his forte. He is the Founder of SEO-Guru, and the Managing Director of Tech Hacker. John is also the Strategic SEO and Influencer Marketing Manager of Softvire Australia – the leading software eCommerce company in Australia and Softvire New Zealand.
