6 ms·

23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac

45 points by tomh 18y ago

god 18y ago
lol, I just see a page full of crap. Not anymore. The page works now. So let me put something useful here. My list of tools: vim
- brasmusen 18y ago
  It's back to being a page full of crap... just symbols for me... http://img.skitch.com/20080820-e9u8x5grdwdqbt6dk2wdq4e74e.jpg http://img.skitch.com/20080820-e9u8x5grdwdqbt6dk2wdq4e74e.jp...
mattdennewitz 18y ago
cocoamysql and phpmyadmin can easily be replaced by navicat or navicat lite (free), which is available for linux, osx, and windows. ive found it pretty handy.
jonknee 18y ago
> For those Mac users who think BBEdit is better than Textmate, it’s usually because BBEdit is a Cocoa application, and TextMate is a Unix application. False. TextMate is a Cocoa app and BBEdit is Carbon.
snorkel 18y ago
Forget MAMP. Install Vmware Fusion and run your server environment of choice in a local virtual machine.
- arthurk 18y ago
  I've thought about this. How do you transfer files between the host and the guest? Do you develop in OS X, transfer the files and then run them? If yes, isn't this a little time-consuming?
  - evgen 18y ago
    Just about all of the text editors on the Mac that are oriented towards web development have support for automatic sftp/ftp/scp of files to a server, so use that route. The virtualization tools also support sharing folders/directories with OS X, so you could use that path but since the eventual goal is deployment to another server using the sftp option means that going from testing to deployment consists of changing the name of the server you are pushing to.
  - mattrepl 18y ago
    This sort of setup is great for working out server configuration kinks during development. To do it right, you need an editor with remote file support and a way to interact with a remote process. Lisp development in Emacs supports this setup. http://bc.tech.coop/blog/051227.html http://bc.tech.coop/blog/051227.html
  - bretthoerner 18y ago
    You can mount your VM locally by running something like Samba on the VM side, then open stuff normally with TextMate or whatever. It's a bit slow and has some quirks with huge projects, so I stopped doing it, personally. Mounting with ExpanDrive or MacFuse(SSH) were slower when I tried.
    - elai 18y ago
      Personally, I just setup an rsync share on the VM, and then run a script on my local machine that rysnc's the project directory just checking timestamps for changes and ignoring all scm folders. It's super quick after the initial sync, since all your usually changing anyway per testing iteration is just a few small text files at a time. Works great for big projects too. Although nowadays, I'm finding the 'separate VM & host os" for development a bit tedious. Even executing that script to see code changes vs. just saving the file and seeing it right away is a drain on productivity. And doing remote editing put's a noticeable lag to my editing.
      - neovive 18y ago
        Very true. Why not just setup a staging server on the VM and use MAMP and benefit from the quick save and preview. Then sync up to your VM for staging to test your deployment.
pjackson 18y ago
I found this list a little contrived. These tools are not ALL essential, are they? No mention of source control, either. Yikes.
- j2d2 18y ago
  I agree. I'm not convinced that many editors are essential. I only use emacs... It seems to be written by someone just getting into the world of development and they're excited about it. Not particularly neat for us older hackers. AND, phpMyAdmin is not a mac app...
  - pjackson 18y ago
    15 years ago, my CS202 professor was asked: Q: "Dr. Anasastio, can you recommend a different editor from emacs? It's so hard to work with. Can we use pico or jot?" A: "No. Emacs is THE editor. If you plan to work in computer science, you have to know it." Though I personally use TextMate for most coding these days, I can certainly see his point. 15 years later, emacs is still relevant and powerful (and free). Find me another editor you can say that about, and I'll pay you $5. (vi doesn't count: it's only relevant because sysadmins could fit it on a floppy, and now it's vim anyway.)
    - dnaquin 18y ago
      :%s/emacs/vim/gci
      - jmtulloss 18y ago
        Agreed.
- jrsims 18y ago
  Agreed. Plus, I've found the crescent wrench and bicycle maintenance manual to be a bit superfluous for my needs.
sh1mmer 18y ago
I wasn't impressed by this list. There were no hidden gems. Most of this stuff is extremely basic for any Mac developer, there were also glaring holes in the list. Examples about how to get things like Bazaar VCS installed from Macports would have been a lot more interesting for people I think.
axod 18y ago
My list: * an editor, source control, firebug, parallels. 23 is sort of a lot. And as for ftp???!!!?
- nickb 18y ago
  "And as for ftp???!!!?" Actually, Transmit's a pretty awesome little utility. It supports ssh (scp) and more importantly, it supports AWS S3 so you can explore and modify your buckets with it. There's a Firefox plug that does similar thing but it's horribly buggy.
  - axod 18y ago
    I guess if you're shy of scp/ssh from the command line, but it's quite useful to get used to using it. It's everywhere.
  - cglee 18y ago
    Cyberduck does all that for free.
  - jmtulloss 18y ago
    But why? I don't know of anybody that deploys by copying files to their server manually. There's always something else that needs to be done and it ends up getting scripted away. Even the most basic deployment usually involves a copy and telling the server to restart or refresh itself.
funkdobiest 18y ago
A list for those just who haven't found Eclipse and it's plugins: SQL Explorer, Subclipse, PHPEclipse,CFEclipse, EPIC. and Firefox and it's plugins: Web developer, Firebug, FireFTP I'm sure there are many more that I have forgotten.
- elai 18y ago
  PyDev Extensions for django developers! He also forgot the scm utils, like Versions or Cornerstone. GitNub seems to be more a GUI for GitHub than git unfortunately :(
graywh 18y ago
::sarcasm:: This blog is a goldmine of lists--just what we love on HN! 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac 15 Quick Ways to Shrink Page Load Times 12 Ways to Design For the Fickle Web User
tlrobinson 18y ago
WebKit
senthil_rajasek 18y ago
6 of the 23 apps are not free. Whats up with that?
- sant0sk1 18y ago
  God forbid we actually pay money for apps that help us make money...
- neovive 18y ago
  There doesn't seem to be as many good free apps on the Mac as there are on Windows. However, most of the really good Mac apps are relatively cheap and high-quality.
burp 18y ago
Can't see it with ff3
Readmore 18y ago
If you need 23 essential tools then you're doing something wrong. When the article says "5 essential tools" then I'll be interested.
- Zev 18y ago
  How's 4 tools sound instead? I could add one more, but I wouldn't consider it "essential". 1. Some sort of text editor that you know how to use. 2. Some sort of versioning that you know how to use. 3. Some sort of way to transfer files offsite that you know how to use. 4. Some sort of way to run the code. A local copy of the server environment that you use should do. I can't think of anything else that's essential. Some things might help make you more productive, but you could easily continue working without the likes of Quicksilver or Spaces.
scott_s 18y ago
If you’re looking for a way to ease the pain of using the command line and Terminal, try iTerm. Probably not aimed at this crowd.

45 points by tomh 18y ago

god 18y ago

lol, I just see a page full of crap. Not anymore. The page works now. So let me put something useful here. My list of tools: vim

brasmusen 18y ago
It's back to being a page full of crap... just symbols for me... http://img.skitch.com/20080820-e9u8x5grdwdqbt6dk2wdq4e74e.jpg http://img.skitch.com/20080820-e9u8x5grdwdqbt6dk2wdq4e74e.jp...

mattdennewitz 18y ago

cocoamysql and phpmyadmin can easily be replaced by navicat or navicat lite (free), which is available for linux, osx, and windows. ive found it pretty handy.

jonknee 18y ago

> For those Mac users who think BBEdit is better than Textmate, it’s usually because BBEdit is a Cocoa application, and TextMate is a Unix application. False. TextMate is a Cocoa app and BBEdit is Carbon.

snorkel 18y ago

Forget MAMP. Install Vmware Fusion and run your server environment of choice in a local virtual machine.

arthurk 18y ago
I've thought about this. How do you transfer files between the host and the guest? Do you develop in OS X, transfer the files and then run them? If yes, isn't this a little time-consuming?
- evgen 18y ago
  Just about all of the text editors on the Mac that are oriented towards web development have support for automatic sftp/ftp/scp of files to a server, so use that route. The virtualization tools also support sharing folders/directories with OS X, so you could use that path but since the eventual goal is deployment to another server using the sftp option means that going from testing to deployment consists of changing the name of the server you are pushing to.
- mattrepl 18y ago
  This sort of setup is great for working out server configuration kinks during development. To do it right, you need an editor with remote file support and a way to interact with a remote process. Lisp development in Emacs supports this setup. http://bc.tech.coop/blog/051227.html http://bc.tech.coop/blog/051227.html
- bretthoerner 18y ago
  You can mount your VM locally by running something like Samba on the VM side, then open stuff normally with TextMate or whatever. It's a bit slow and has some quirks with huge projects, so I stopped doing it, personally. Mounting with ExpanDrive or MacFuse(SSH) were slower when I tried.
  - elai 18y ago
    Personally, I just setup an rsync share on the VM, and then run a script on my local machine that rysnc's the project directory just checking timestamps for changes and ignoring all scm folders. It's super quick after the initial sync, since all your usually changing anyway per testing iteration is just a few small text files at a time. Works great for big projects too. Although nowadays, I'm finding the 'separate VM & host os" for development a bit tedious. Even executing that script to see code changes vs. just saving the file and seeing it right away is a drain on productivity. And doing remote editing put's a noticeable lag to my editing.
    - neovive 18y ago
      Very true. Why not just setup a staging server on the VM and use MAMP and benefit from the quick save and preview. Then sync up to your VM for staging to test your deployment.

pjackson 18y ago

I found this list a little contrived. These tools are not ALL essential, are they? No mention of source control, either. Yikes.

j2d2 18y ago
I agree. I'm not convinced that many editors are essential. I only use emacs... It seems to be written by someone just getting into the world of development and they're excited about it. Not particularly neat for us older hackers. AND, phpMyAdmin is not a mac app...
- pjackson 18y ago
  15 years ago, my CS202 professor was asked: Q: "Dr. Anasastio, can you recommend a different editor from emacs? It's so hard to work with. Can we use pico or jot?" A: "No. Emacs is THE editor. If you plan to work in computer science, you have to know it." Though I personally use TextMate for most coding these days, I can certainly see his point. 15 years later, emacs is still relevant and powerful (and free). Find me another editor you can say that about, and I'll pay you $5. (vi doesn't count: it's only relevant because sysadmins could fit it on a floppy, and now it's vim anyway.)
  - dnaquin 18y ago
    :%s/emacs/vim/gci
    - jmtulloss 18y ago
      Agreed.
jrsims 18y ago
Agreed. Plus, I've found the crescent wrench and bicycle maintenance manual to be a bit superfluous for my needs.

sh1mmer 18y ago

I wasn't impressed by this list. There were no hidden gems. Most of this stuff is extremely basic for any Mac developer, there were also glaring holes in the list. Examples about how to get things like Bazaar VCS installed from Macports would have been a lot more interesting for people I think.

axod 18y ago

My list: * an editor, source control, firebug, parallels. 23 is sort of a lot. And as for ftp???!!!?

nickb 18y ago
"And as for ftp???!!!?" Actually, Transmit's a pretty awesome little utility. It supports ssh (scp) and more importantly, it supports AWS S3 so you can explore and modify your buckets with it. There's a Firefox plug that does similar thing but it's horribly buggy.
- axod 18y ago
  I guess if you're shy of scp/ssh from the command line, but it's quite useful to get used to using it. It's everywhere.
- cglee 18y ago
  Cyberduck does all that for free.
- jmtulloss 18y ago
  But why? I don't know of anybody that deploys by copying files to their server manually. There's always something else that needs to be done and it ends up getting scripted away. Even the most basic deployment usually involves a copy and telling the server to restart or refresh itself.

funkdobiest 18y ago

A list for those just who haven't found Eclipse and it's plugins: SQL Explorer, Subclipse, PHPEclipse,CFEclipse, EPIC. and Firefox and it's plugins: Web developer, Firebug, FireFTP I'm sure there are many more that I have forgotten.

elai 18y ago
PyDev Extensions for django developers! He also forgot the scm utils, like Versions or Cornerstone. GitNub seems to be more a GUI for GitHub than git unfortunately :(

graywh 18y ago

::sarcasm:: This blog is a goldmine of lists--just what we love on HN! 23 Essential Tools For Web Development on a Mac 15 Quick Ways to Shrink Page Load Times 12 Ways to Design For the Fickle Web User

tlrobinson 18y ago

WebKit

senthil_rajasek 18y ago

6 of the 23 apps are not free. Whats up with that?

sant0sk1 18y ago
God forbid we actually pay money for apps that help us make money...
neovive 18y ago
There doesn't seem to be as many good free apps on the Mac as there are on Windows. However, most of the really good Mac apps are relatively cheap and high-quality.

burp 18y ago

Can't see it with ff3

Readmore 18y ago

If you need 23 essential tools then you're doing something wrong. When the article says "5 essential tools" then I'll be interested.

Zev 18y ago
How's 4 tools sound instead? I could add one more, but I wouldn't consider it "essential". 1. Some sort of text editor that you know how to use. 2. Some sort of versioning that you know how to use. 3. Some sort of way to transfer files offsite that you know how to use. 4. Some sort of way to run the code. A local copy of the server environment that you use should do. I can't think of anything else that's essential. Some things might help make you more productive, but you could easily continue working without the likes of Quicksilver or Spaces.

scott_s 18y ago

If you’re looking for a way to ease the pain of using the command line and Terminal, try iTerm. Probably not aimed at this crowd.