Web Development Tools: Editors, DevTools and Productivity

Code Editors

VS Code: Most popular code editor. Extensive extension ecosystem, IntelliSense, debugging, Git integration. Free and open source.

WebStorm: JetBrains' IDE. Advanced refactoring, code analysis, framework support. Paid.

Sublime Text: Lightweight and fast. Minimalist interface. Opens large files quickly.

Vim/Neovim: Terminal-based editor. Keyboard-driven, highly customizable. Steep learning curve.

Selection criteria: VS Code for beginners. WebStorm for enterprise. Sublime Text for minimalists. Vim for terminal lovers.

Browser DevTools

Elements/Inspector: Inspect DOM and CSS. Test style changes live. Box model, layout, computed styles.

Console: View JavaScript errors and logs. Interactive REPL. Access to DOM elements.

Network: Monitor HTTP requests. Waterfall chart, timing, headers, payload. Detect performance bottlenecks.

Performance: CPU, memory, rendering profiling. Flame chart, long tasks, layout shifts. Core Web Vitals measurement.

Application: Storage (cookies, localStorage, IndexedDB), Service Worker, Cache, Manifest. PWA debugging.

Lighthouse: Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO audit. Score and recommendations for each page.

Terminal Tools

Git: Version control. Branch, merge, rebase, stash. PR management with GitHub CLI (gh).

npm/yarn/pnpm: Package manager. Dependency management, script running, workspace.

Docker: Containerization. docker build, docker run, docker compose. Local development environment.

curl/wget: HTTP requests. API testing, file download. curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{...}' url.

jq: JSON processor. Parse and filter JSON in terminal. curl ... | jq '.data'.

fzf: Fuzzy finder. File, history, process search. Increases terminal productivity.

Productivity Tools

Postman/Insomnia: API testing and documentation. Collection, environment, test script. Team collaboration.

Figma: UI/UX design. Component library, prototyping, dev mode (CSS export).

Chrome extensions: React DevTools, Vue DevTools, Redux DevTools, axe (accessibility).

Grammarly: Spelling and grammar check. For blog posts and documentation.

Notion/Obsidian: Note taking and knowledge management. Documentation, wiki, task tracking.

Code Quality Tools

ESLint: JavaScript/TypeScript linting. Code standards, error detection. Custom rules and plugins.

Prettier: Code formatting. Automatic indentation, quote style, semicolon. Save on format.

TypeScript: Static type checking. Compile-time error detection. IDE autocomplete.

Husky + lint-staged: Pre-commit hooks. Lint and format check before commit. Integrated into CI/CD pipeline.

SonarQube: Code quality analysis. Bug, vulnerability, code smell detection. Quality gates.

Developer Productivity Tips

Keyboard shortcuts: Learn editor and browser shortcuts. Minimize mouse usage.

Snippets: Save frequently used code snippets. VS Code snippets, Emmet.

Aliases: Define terminal aliases. alias gs='git status', alias dc='docker compose'.

Dotfiles: Manage configuration files (bashrc, vimrc, gitconfig) with Git. Quick setup on new machine.

Learning: Dev.to, Hacker News, CSS-Tricks, Smashing Magazine. Continuous learning and staying current.