Web-site Development Tools

[rjtiess at juno.com]

[ An extended public post of what I wrote to slak at infohouse.com,
  who first raise the question of web development tools. ]

On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 08:03:28 -0700 slak at infohouse.com writes:

> I would especially appreciate hearing if anybody is still
> just hand coding, and their justification for doing so.

I still code everything by hand--necessarily so when working
with Java and JavaScript.  Coding by hand promotes programming
proficiency and affords you the greatest control over your site's
coding, layout, etc.--if that's what you're after.  Many people
could do with less control.  Believe it or not, it's faster than using
a dedicate HTML editor when you build enough experience and
develop shortcuts with your text editor--for example, typing a black
HREF statement, copying that to the clipboard, then pasting it every
time you'd like to create a link.  I can have a page up in minutes
and modified in seconds, and I know the code isn't bloated.  I do
this regularly and instantly view the results in Netscape, MSIE,
and Lynx32 by reloading the document.  For editing I use Notepad,
Edit (DOS) and Super Notetab--a freeware Windows text editor
allowing one to edit text files of unlimited sizes.

BTW, I just worked a colleague--today--who used a popular HTML
editor to draft a page, and the extraneous paragraph alignment
tags were horrific--one for every line, even blank lines.  On the
web, every extra byte slows page loads.  In this case, it was
about 20k of unnecessary code.  That's unacceptable for me.

I find I spend the most time on developing graphics, buttons, and
backgrounds--although these things you can also find for free on
the web through public graphic archives, if you please.  Some
places actually offer high quality images, and I highlight a few at
http://www.thrall.org/proimage.html .  At home I use Corel Draw
and Corel Photo-Paint and scan in my own drawings when I need.

I also regard HTML editors as excellent transitional tools, allowing
one to explore HTML without having to learn it--a set of virtual
training wheels.  The more expensive HTML editors go beyond
simple site creation and get into site management (visualizing page
displacement, Java and other advanced features), and these are
also nice features for new and seasoned coders alike.

Despite that, I'll take Edit any day.  Fast, unfettered and free.


Robert
















-

_____________________________________________________________________
You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail.
Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com
Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]