What's Hot? What's Not? Essential Tools

Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way:

• version control - git
• bug tracking - Unfuddle

Version control and bug tracking should be a given and need no explanation. They should be integrated so that when you commit / push changes, tickets can be automatically updated (fixed / closed / address).

Core to my workflow these days is Emacs, the Swiss Army Knife of text editors. It's open 24x7 full screen and, in addition to several text editor windows, I have windows open for git (status and process), a Unix-like shell (even on Windows!), and IRC (access to 300 #clojure developers!). Also a live REPL (Read-Eval-Print-Loop) console for evaluation of Clojure code as I write it.

Moving up the food chain, I rely heavily on two organizational tools:

• Orchestra: This is one of the slickest to-do apps I've ever seen (created by a team that includes Derek Perez, a former CFer). It's social, team-based, has great web/phone integration and even has voice recognition on the phone!
• Freemind: Many years ago, Michael Smith of TeraTech introduced me to mind mapping, and I've tried lots of applications but I keep coming back to this free, open source project that runs identically on every platform. Mind maps are a great way to brainstorm and develop concepts, especially for presentations. I also use Freemind for taking notes at conferences and user groups.

Every developer needs a tool in which to write his or her code. Full-featured IDEs such as Eclipse are quite popular, but lately I've found myself moving away from IDEs to more lightweight text editors. My current editor of choice is Sublime Text 2. Like most IDEs, it's extensible in that it allows for "bundles" for various languages. The bundles provide features such as syntax highlighting and code hinting. Text editors don't have all of the features of a typical IDE, but they utilize fewer resources, and I'm a fan of that. It's certainly personal preference, but to me a robust text editor is hot. A resource-intensive IDE is not.

I'm also committed to learning Emacs in 2012. Emacs is a rather extensible text editor that?s been around since the 70's. I've been learning Clojure recently, and expect to be doing more of it in the future. Emacs is currently a "what's hot" in the Clojure community. And hey, if it's lasted for over 30 years, it's got to be doing something right!

My IDE of choice is Adobe ColdFusion Builder (CFBuilder) with Mylyn and the Tasktop plugin. I love CFBuilder for its productivity features, like code insight and intelligent code assist. Mylyn, a free open source Eclipse project, adds a task-focused interface to Eclipse. Tasktop, a commercial product, adds features like time tracking dashboard and reports to Mylyn.

I use Git regularly for source control. TortoiseGit, a user interface for Windows, complements Git by adding features and menus into Windows Explorer, like the ability to easily visualize changes and resolve conflicts through a GUI. I would love to start using Gerrit, a code review tool specifically for Git. Gerrit even has Mylyn integration, so code reviews can be accomplished without leaving my IDE.

Blueprint is my chosen CSS framework. It serves as a solid foundation to make CSS development faster, simpler, and easier. With Blueprint's grid layout, a requester can use a grid template in Photoshop or print a copy and use pencil to mock up a web page. This gives the requester and developer a clear understanding of the page layout, reducing the need to move layout elements back and forth while trying to position them on the page.

Here are a few popular CSS frameworks to explore:

• 960 grid system
• Blueprint
• Twitter Bootstrap

I would also like to use Jenkins, an open-source continuous integration server, for Continuous integration (CI). By integrating source code changes frequently, CI improves software quality and reduces delivery time.

I use different IDEs based on where I'm working. I use Homesite+ on my laptop and development machine for its small memory footprint and still-useful feature set. It?s a lot faster when I have to throw something together quickly. CFBuilder is also installed on my development machine, but I don't use it as often as I should. When working on-site or over RDS, I'll use CFEclipse. Because CFBuilder is required for the Adobe Community Help documentation app, I install it anywhere I work. Good documentation is worth it.

Powergrep is the tool I use most for searching through text files. It allows me to do plain text searches and the most insane regex imaginable. Powergrep can also do complex text replaces and I use it a LOT when cleaning up code.

Beyond Compare is my tool of choice for file name searches and file comparisons. It can even compare files accessible through FTP or SVN, and plugs into Eclipse. I find the comparison features in Beyond Compare to be far superior to those in most other apps, especially those in Eclipse.

Few would think of Firefox as a necessary development tool, but it becomes indispensable with the right plugins. Firebug and the Web Developer Toolbar are required tools when I'm working on any website. I use a dozen or so other plugins to track my time, help focus my work, provide needed information, and more.

Taking notes really helps my productivity but I have yet to find a 'perfect' knowledge management system. Google Notebook worked well enough but has been discontinued. Plain text files sorted by directory works well but can get disorganized quickly. Powergrep helps greatly when looking for a specific note and Beyond Compare lets me sync my notes between computers but this is just a stopgap until I can find the right system for me...or build it myself.