HTML, XHTML, & CSS All-in-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 3. Choosing Your Tools

In This Chapter

• Choosing a text editor

• Using a dedicated HTML editor

• Comparing common browsers

• Introducing Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

• Adding important Firefox extensions

Web development is a big job. You don't go to a construction site without a belt full of tools (and a cool hat), and the same thing is true with Web development (except you don't normally need a hard hat for Web development). An entire industry has evolved trying to sell tools that help make Web development easier. The funny thing is that the tools you need might not be the ones that people are trying to sell you. Some of the very best Web development tools are free, and some of the most expensive tools aren't that helpful.

This chapter tells you what you need and how to set up your workshop with great programs that simplify Web development.

What's Wrong with the Big Boys?

Many Web development books are really books about how to use a particular type of software. Microsoft's FrontPage/Expression Web and Macromedia/Adobe Dreamweaver are the two primary applications in this category. These tools are powerful and offer some seemingly great features:

• WYSIWYG editing: What you see is what you get is an idea borrowed from word processors. You can create a Web page much like a word-processing document and use menus, as well as tools, to handle all the formatting. The theory is that you don't have to know any icky codes.

• Templates: You can create a template that stays the same and build ...