web development tools every developer should know

A web developer has the responsibility of creating reliable, high-functioning, scalable web applications. This is not an easy task. However, to simplify the process whilst maintaining the quality of a web application, web development tools are used.   

But what are these tools? Web development tools or Dev tools are software that is used by developers to add features and functionalities, and test and debug the code and interface of the web applications and websites created. Additionally, these tools and technologies facilitate the creation of responsive web designs.   

These tools come with built-in automation and security-related features that enhance the performance of your web applications and hence, help developers achieve their goals effectively and efficiently.  

With so many options of web development tools available, it often becomes a daunting task for web developers to make a choice as to which tool best suits their requirements.   

React Web-Development-service-bigohtech

This blog lists down 10 essential, most commonly used web development tools that help developers design and develop websites with more convenience, in a faster time, and cost-effectively.  

10 Essential Web Development Tools  

With so many web development tools being developed and updated regularly in the marketplace, it often comes as a challenge to select the ones that cater to your needs.   

Below mentioned are some of the most necessary and widely used tools for website development:  

Essential Web development tools
Web Development Tools

1. Sublime Text  

Sublime text is a great open-source code editor and a widely used tool for web development. Along with editing the code, it also can be used for markup and pros. This tool is popular among developers for its extensive and advanced features and functionalities.  

Sublime text
Sublime Text

Its slick user interface and extensions that highlight syntax, source file finding and run code metrics analysis, make it a go-to tool for website development. Furthermore, by choosing multiple selection features, one is able to make the same interactive changes to various selected areas at the same time.   

The sublime text allows customization and instant project switch. It supports multiple platforms like Windows, Mac, and Linux and multiple programming and markup languages.  

It is a powerful tool for developers working on web development but doesn’t support mobile platforms.   

Best for: small to large businesses 

Price: Personal use: license cost – $80 

2. Chrome Developer Tool  

Chrome Developer Tool is a powerful front-end developer tool provided by Chrome for web developers. It enables one to debug JavaScript in Console or edit CSS and HTML code/elements in real time. All this can be done while you analyze the performance of your webpage and optimize your website speed.   

Furthermore, with the help of Chrome DevTool, one can check messages, view and update a web page’s style and change the Document Object Model (DOM). This tool also helps with multiple panels such as security, application, network, memory, etc.   

Chrome Developer Tool
Chrome Developer Tool

This tool is supported by an active DevTools Community and can only run on a single browser.   

Best for: small to large businesses. 

Price: Free of cost 

3. JQuery  

JQuery is a JavaScript library that is feature-rich. It is created to simplify, navigate and manipulate HTML DOM tree traversal. A tool for web development that facilitates event handling, animation creation and adding plugins, jQuery is a powerful library that assists developers to include additional functions to a website.   

jquery
JQuery

Introduced in 2006, jQuery is CSS3 compliant and can be used with multiple platforms like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, IE, Safari, Android, iOS, etc.  

JQuery’s popularity as a JavaScript library peaked in 2015 with installation on 65% of the top 10 million highest-traffic sites on the web at that time.  

Best for: small to large businesses 

Price: Free and open-source 

4. Sass  

Eight-year in the tech industry, Sass is a CSS extension language that is an open-source, mature, reliable, and stable tool for website development.   

Sass
Sass

This language allows one to use a combination of variables, nested rules, mixins, and functions that render CSS after compilation. This means that your stylesheets would be more readable and follow the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle.   

Furthermore, Sass helps one to write and build easily maintainable codes, thereby reducing dependency on CSS for your coding and supporting multiple inheritances.    

Saas is one of the most widely used tools today and is backed by a large community.   

Price: Free of cost 

Also Read: Use Of ReactJS For Custom Web Application

5. AngularJS  

An open-source web framework, AngularJS was developed by Google to perform tasks that HTML couldn’t do i.e., manage dynamic views.   

Angular Js
Angular JS

AngularJS allows one to extend application’s HTML syntax of their applications. This results in the creation of a more expressive, readable, easy and quick-to-develop environment that wouldn’t have been possible with HTML alone.  

Fully extendable, this tool set is compatible with other libraries as well. It provides one with the liberty to modify or replace a feature according to one’s development workflow.  

Since this web framework is an old JavaScript object, the code one creates will be reusable, easy to test as well as maintain and from boilerplate.  

Best for: small to large businesses 

Price: Free and open-source 

6. GitHub  

GitHub is a popular platform today where developers create, collaborate and share. Introduced as a version control software, contemporary GitHub also allows users to share and store code, add a contribution to other developers’ projects, and keep track of code revisions.  

github build for developers
GitHub

One can also undertake project management for several projects by creating multiple review processes for the written code. Furthermore, it can be deployed as a cloud-hosted or self-hosted solution.  

This platform provides security features such as security incident response, two-factor authentication, etc. It is the most widely used platform by developers all across the world today.   

Best for: small to large business size 

Price: Free and Pro -$7 per month, Team – $9 per user per month and Enterprise – quote required 

7. CodePen  

CodePen is an online, user-friendly and widely used designing and sharing front-end development tool that has been around since 2013.   

Used by organizations of all sizes, this tool is used to develop an entire project through all offered features of the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) in a web browser.  

With customizable editors, and collaboration mode allowing allow multiple people to write and edit code in a pen simultaneously as well as the option to keep private pens, CodePen provides you with the drag-and-drop feature for images, CSS, JSON files, SVGS, Media files, etc.  

CodePen is a reliable type of web technology.   

Best for: small to large businesses 

Price: Four plans for individuals: 

  •  Free, Annual Starter – $8 per month 
  • Annual Developer – $12 per month 
  • Annual Super – $26 per month  

Team plans start at $12 per month per member. 

8. Node Package Manager (NPM)   

NPM is a JavaScript software that has functionalities for team management. Since it comes with security auditing features, there doesn’t arise a need to configure anything.   

Developers working with JavaScript can make use of this tool to discover and install code packages for applications used for networking purposes or server-side projects.  

node package manager product
Node Package Manager

For enterprise solutions, this tool for web development offers features pertaining to security, de-duplicated development, and access control, as well as provides unparalleled support.    

Small organisations should make use of the NPM Orgs plan that offers open-source solutions along with team management permissions and performing workflow integrations and managing tokens. 

Best for:  small to large businesses. 
Price: NPM is free and open-source tool. NPM Orgs is available for $7 per user per month.   

9. Grunt  

grunt
Grunt

Free and easy to install, Grunt is a JavaScript tool that facilitates the automation of most iterative web development tasks such as compilation, linting, minification, unit testing, and many more.  

Code In Grunt
Code In Grunt

Built on NodeJS, this tool, along with offering multiple plugins, also allow developers to build their own. Furthermore, Grant also provides support to other front-end web development tools such as Sass to finish pre-configured tasks.  

An updated NPM version is required to install Grunt and its plugins.   

Best for: small to medium-sized businesses 
Price: Free 

10. Bootstrap  

Bootstrap is an open-source front-end development library widely used for creating responsive mobile-first projects on the web.  

It features several HTML, CSS, and JavaScript-based scripts- commonly used web programming languages, for web design components and functions. This toolkit saves web developers time that goes into coding these components and functions manually.   

bootstrap
Bootstrap

It is a highly customizable tool in terms of built-in and CSS variables, color systems, Sass files, etc. The in-built grid system saves you the hassle of creating one from scratch.   

Further, Bootstrap provides one with powerful plugins built on JQuery. Moreover, the toolkit is compatible with all the latest browsers.   

This is an easily navigable tool if one has decent knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. 

Best for: small to large businesses 
Price: Free and open-source. 

Also Read: Advantages Of Agile Methodology

FAQs:  

Q1. What are the 5 stages of web development?

The five stages of web development are: 
1. Planning and analysis 
2. Design and development 
3. Testing 
4. Implementation  
5. Maintenance 

Q2. What is the relation between Angular/React and Vue with JavaScript? 

While Angular is an advanced JavaScript framework based on TypeScript and React uses an HTML-in-JavaScript syntax called JSX, Vue is a progressive open-source front-end JavaScript framework.  

Q3. Is JavaScript a web tool?

Yes, JavaScript is a lightweight scripting language used to develop web pages.

Q4. How can web development tools help streamline and automate the development process?

Web development tools make front-end and back-end development workflows less complex.  
Moreover, these tools come in the form of code or text editors, version control systems (VCS), web frameworks, debuggers, libraries, prototyping tools, and container software, that help in streamlining and automating the development process.

Q5. What role do web development tools play in responsive web design and cross-device compatibility?

Some tools help developers find and use responsive templates like Simbla, Gator Website Builder, etc., others like Bootstrap, FitText, etc., aid in the responsive design process, and the remaining like Responsinator, Browserstack, Resizer, etc., help conduct responsive testing to help you ensure that the final product works well on all device types. 

Q6. How can developers ensure that their websites are secure?

Developers can ensure their websites are secure in the following ways: 
1. Maintaining security during web app development 
2. Encrypt your data 
3. Use Exception Management 
4. Apply Authentication, Role Management & Access Control 
5. Don’t Forget Hosting/Service-Focused Measures 
6. Use SSL Certificate and implement HTTPS 
7. Include auditing & logging 
8. Use Rigorous Quality Assurance and Testing 

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