Development Tools

2008 September 30 | 11:50 am

SourceForge is an excellent site with which to manage your projects, especially if your development team is distributed widely.

Microsoft Visual Studio Express Editions
Say what you will, but Microsoft does occasionally do something nice. If you've used the Professional versions of Visual Studio, but can't afford to buy a personal license, the Express Editions may be the way to go. Featuring a smaller feature set within the same IDE found in the paid versions, you can't go wrong with free...

IntelliJ IDEA: The Most Intelligent Java IDE
For Java developers looking for a good Swing and AWT form designer, I present IntelliJ. It features an IDE that rivals Visual Studio in functionality and customization.

PHP Designer 2007 - Personal 5.0.2
I've used a few different tools for PHP development, but so far PHP Designer, from MPSOFTWARE, has been my hands-down favorite. Pick up the personal version of the 2007 edition for free if you are working on personal projects, or for a relatively small price you can buy a perpetual license for the 2008 editon.

Notepad++
Sometimes, simpler is better. Notepad++ may not look like a lot, but is has syntax-highlighting for darn near every computer language you can think of. It also benefits from an OpenSource license, so not only are you free to use it how you see fit, you can also dig around under the hood if you find something you don't like...

TortoiseCVS: Enjoyable Version Control
Say the words "code versioning" in any programming group meeting, and you'll see more than a few winces. TortoiseCVS can turn those frowns upside down...

Why pay for an expensive office suite when you can get a robust productivity suite for free? I dunno, but people do it anyway. Use OpenOffice.org, silly.

Active@ ISO Burner (Freeware)
Active@ ISO Burner is a freeware application that will allow you to burn an ISO image file to CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, CD-RW, DVD-RW, DL DVD+RW, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.