Software for Webdevelopment

A list of computer software applications used to develop Nicole Sharp’s Website.

downloads

  1. Notepad++ (plaintext editor)
  2. Edge (web browser)
  3. IrfanView (image viewer)
  4. Inkscape (vector image editor)
  5. GIMP (raster image editor)
  6. Copilot (code generator)
  7. FileZilla (FTP client)

These download links are for Microsoft Windows Eleven.  Review the individual sections below for additional links.

applications

  1. operating system
  2. plaintext editor
  3. web browser
  4. image viewer
  5. vector image editor
  6. raster image editor
  7. code generator
  8. FTP client

operating system

The first thing you'll need for webdevelopment is an operating system.  I primarily use Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for webdevelopment.

Windows

I was able to get Windows 11 Pro at a discount from StackCommerce StackSocial.  StackSocial is an authorized Microsoft Partner based in California, United States of America.  As of , Microsoft Windows 11 Pro was US$11.96 with up to 8% Microsoft Edge Cashback from StackSocial.

Linux

There are many free alternatives to Microsoft Windows.  I used Canonical Ubuntu Debian Linux and then Mint Ubuntu Debian Linux for several years as my primary operating system for webdevelopment before eventually switching back to Windows.  Unlike Windows, Linux is both free and open-source.

I have only personally installed and used Debian-based Linuces but there are many more.

plaintext editor

Most webdevelopment is done in plaintext.  While Hypertext Markup Language is not so picky, you specifically need a plaintext editor that does not use Byte Order Marks to edit Hypertext Transfer Protocol Server Access files and supports Unix line endings to edit Personal Homepage Hypertext Preprocessor files.  This means that you should not use Microsoft Windows Notepad for webdevelopment.  What I personally use is Notepad Plus Plus for Windows 11.  Notepad Plus Plus is free open-source software.  A non-Windows alternative to Notepad Plus Plus is the Kool Desktop Environment Advanced Text Editor which is also free open-source software.

Remember to check the text editor settings to make sure that new documents:

Both HTACCESS and PHP can break if you try to use files with Byte Order Marks or non-Unix line endings.  On Notepad Plus Plus, you can quickly check the encoding and line endings by looking in the bottom-right corner.  It should say "Unix (LF)" and "UTF-8" — not "Windows (CR LF)" or "UTF-8-BOM".

web browser

This should be obvious but you'll need a web browser to view webpages.  The browser that I personally use is Microsoft Edge Chromium which is what Nicole Sharp’s Website is primarily tested on.  A free open-source alternative to Microsoft Edge is Mozilla Firefox.

image viewer

By definition, any images used for a website should be able to open in the web browser.  However, I like to view images with IrfanView for Windows 11.  Plugins don't work with the Microsoft Store version so you need to install the non-Store version to view Scalable Vector Graphics with IrfanView.

vector image editor

Inkscape is a free open-source vector image editor.  You can use this for "what you see is what you get" editing of Scalable Vector Graphics.

raster image editor

You will need a raster image editor with ICO icon file support to create website favicons.  I use the free open-source Gnu Image Manipulation Program for raster image editing.  The Microsoft Store version of GIMP does not offer offline help; you need to install the non-Store version to read help files offline.

code generator

You should try to make every effort to learn computer languages yourself if possible but some languages can be non-intuitive or overly technical and may require automated tools to assist in code generation.  Thanks to free tools like Microsoft Copilot Chat Generative Pretrained Transformer for Windows 11, anyone can generate webpages or JavaScript programs.  Personally, I struggle with JavaScript programming for which Copilot has been a huge help to me.  Before Microsoft Copilot was released in , Nicole Sharp’s Website used little to no JavaScript.

FTP client

I use FileZilla for File Transfer Protocol.  FileZilla is free open-source software.