A programming can take a long time to perfect, especially when you’re just starting out. That’s why it’s always best to look for tools that can help streamline your development process. Selecting the right tool will not only help you increase your coding productivity, but also save you the headache of dealing with compatibility issues in different operating systems or browser versions. …
Coding is the best! Or at least it can be. It can also be very frustrating if you don’t have the right tools on your side. These are my favorite coding tools, ones that I found most helpful when building websites and creating plugins.
Sublime Text 3
The best code editor overall – but you’ll have to pay for it
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $80 (free indefinite preview)Platform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: Sublime HQTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Lightweight and speedy+Extremely extendable
REASONS TO AVOID
-Not free-Nagging popup
Sublime Text really changed the way the best code editors work. It’s lightweight, open and ready to edit your file almost as soon as you’ve managed to click the button. This responsiveness is one of the things that makes it the best code editor in its class overall. If you want to open a file and make a quick edit, waiting a few seconds for loading may not sound like much, but the delay can quickly grow tedious.
Another big benefit of Sublime Text is that it’s wildly extensible, with a huge and ever-growing list of plugins available to install via the package manager. Options include themes to customise the editor’s appearance, code linters (which can assist with more quickly locating any errors in your code), Git plugins, colour pickers, and more.
Sublime Text is free to download and start using, but for extended use you’ll need to shell out $80 for a licence – and the programme will remind you fairly regularly about payment until you cough up. If you decide to pay, you can use the same licence key for any computer you use, so you can enter the same code on all your machines to get rid of the payment reminder popup. The paid licence, however, is perhaps Sublime Text’s biggest downside since there are a number of competitive products available at no cost.
Codespaces
A browser-based code editor from Microsoft and Github
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: BrowserDeveloper: MicrosoftTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Work from anywhere+Good for collaboration+Functions offline
REASONS TO AVOID
-New and untestedAdvertisement
Github’s owner, Microsoft, made it clear that its vision for the 2020s is all about the cloud, and here’s a good example. Launched in May 2020, Codespaces is a browser-based code editor based on Visual Studio Code. It has support for Git repos, extensions and a built-in command line interface so you can edit, run, and debug your applications from any device. Obviously this enables you to work from anywhere, and makes collaboration with other devs easier.
Code-editing functionality in GitHub will always be free, although Microsoft plans to offer simple pay-as-you-go pricing for Codespaces cloud environments. You launch Codespaces straight from Github, which makes for a nice bit of synergy. If you prefer not to use a browser, that’s fine too, as support for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio is built in.
Vim
Command line software that’s a favourite among old-school programmers
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: Vim.orgTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Rock-solid and very fast+Good for keyboarders+Included with Linux OS and macOS
REASONS TO AVOID
-No UI – navigated via keyboard
Vim is perhaps the most contentious code editor in this list. A command line software included natively with Linux operating systems and macOS and available for download for Windows, Vim is a favourite for many old-school programmers and keyboard enthusiasts. It’s navigated entirely via the keyboard, making it much faster and more efficient, but only if you make the effort to learn how to operate it. It’s also extremely customisable – to the extent that a command line program can be customised). You can use a number of keyboard shortcuts to speed up code editing, and even better, create customised commands to fit your own workflow.
Without a doubt, Vim makes for the steepest learning curve and perhaps one of the worst user experiences in our selection due to its complete lack of UI. Learning how to navigate the program isn’t so challenging, but building the muscle memory of shortcuts and figuring out how best to customise the editor (which you really need to do to get the best from it) takes a lot longer. However, that said, Vim is incredibly stable, fast, and a joy to use for veteran command line aficionados and new, interested users alike. If you have the time to learn, Vim can really increase your coding productivity, and, with so little UI to consider, it’s a nearly seamless cross-platform experience.
Habitica
Apps that let you create to-do lists help you track the progress with your daily coding tasks, and Habitica takes this to a whole new level.
This app actually treats your daily workload as an RPG game where you can level up by completing your tasks. As you make progress with your work, you also find pets, collect coins and equipment, so there is a reward system to help motivate you to keep pushing forward.
Once you sign in, you first have to create a character. You can then indicate:
- daily tasks – the ones you have to finish every day
- to-dos – the tasks you only have to complete once
- habits – everyday activities you perform, either good or bad. If you pursue your good habits, you gain rewards. If you pursue your bad habits, you lose health and mana
Unless you finish your tasks in a given time period, your character suffers damage.
If you code in a team, you can try Habitica’s guilds and group quests. You can add your entire project activities in a group quest, and link team member’s tasks together. If you procrastinate and stop working on your own tasks, your team member’s characters also take damage, so you’ll learn to be more responsible with your share of the work.
Quixy
Quixy – Enterprises use Quixy’s cloud-based no-code platform to empower their business users (citizen developers) to automate workflows and build simple to complex enterprise-grade applications for their custom needs up to ten times faster. All without writing any code.
Quixy helps eliminate manual processes and quickly turn ideas into applications making business more innovative, productive, and transparent. Users can start from scratch or customize pre-built apps from the Quixy app store in minutes.
Features:
- Build the app interface the way you want it by dragging and dropping 40+ form fields including a rich text editor, e-signature, QR-Code scanner, Facial Recognition widget, and much more.
- Model any process and build simple complex workflows be it sequential, parallel and conditional with an easy-to-use visual builder. Configure notifications, reminders, and escalations for each step in the workflow.
- Seamlessly integrate with 3rd party applications through ready-to-use connectors, Webhooks, and API Integrations.
- Deploy apps with a single click and make changes on the fly with no downtime. Ability to use on any browser, any device even in offline mode.
- Live actionable Reports and Dashboards with the option to export data in multiple formats and schedule automated delivery of reports through multiple channels.
- Enterprise-ready with ISO 27001 and SOC2 Type2 Certification and all enterprise features including Custom Themes, SSO, IP filtering, On-Premise deployment, White-Labelling, etc.
Verdict: Quixy is a completely visual and easy-to-use No-Code Application Development platform. Businesses can automate processes across departments using Quixy. It will help you to build simple to complex custom enterprise application faster and with lower costs without writing any code.
Conclusion
I love coding. I love the feeling of building things. The sense of accomplishment gained from pulling all-nighters to code an app or build a website is incredible. That being said, writing code can also be tedious, time-consuming, and sometimes boring. As cliche as this might sound, these are the moments you find yourself wishing for a magical tool that allows you to just do the work.