Developing a web application is not just about writing code snippets or designing intricate layouts, there’s more to it. Usability, responsiveness, stability and availability are the core features that lay the foundation of an effective web development solution. As a web developer you must be intimately familiar with these elements. If these elementary features are missing from the website you are developing for your client, your client is likely to lose the much-required customer attention and thus, potential leads that will come from those customers. And this isn’t even close to good. So, it is your responsibility as a developer to develop web pages that can effectively promote your client’s business online and is completely glitch-free. Lately, if you have been hunting down on ways that can help you to develop attractive yet performance-rendering web pages in the least possible time, then you have landed at the right place. This post presents a comprehensive list of some essential development tools that will make your web development process faster. Let’s take a look:
1. Firebug: Firebug is a pivotal browser-based web development tool, and probably the most famous too, that is available over the internet for free download. This tool performs numerous functions such as testing, debugging and analyzing the web pages, that simplify the entire development process to a considerable extend. One of the most useful features of Firebug is the Network tab that allows inspecting CSS, HTML, JS and XHR components.
2. YSlow for Firebug: YSlow is an integral feature in firebug that ranks a website after evaluating it on the basis of best practices for high performance web sites detailed out by the Developer Network at Yahoo! Each rule listed down here is denoted by an alphabet (A-F), which states how you rank on the various aspects of front-end website performance. Also, this tool gives you a fair idea about the issues that you need to work upon in your website such as using a CDN, making fewer HTTP requests or compressing external JavaScript.
3. IBM Page Detailer: This tool gives you a real-time analysis of the web components that are being presently downloaded over the internet. It sticks onto your web browser so all you actually have to do is to open the IBM Page Detailer and navigate to any desired website. As you click on any of the components available on the web page, a side window will open up, listing down the requisite details of that component. As and when a process begins on the web page, the tool opens a window with corresponding information about the process.
4. Fiddler 2: Fiddler 2 is a debugging tool based on HTML that enables you to analyze the incoming as well as the outgoing traffic of a website. This tool is laden with rich debugging and reporting features and can be easily customized as per your requisites. However, before you start using this tool it is best to read through the guide issued by MSDN. This guide discusses the various features and functionalities of Fiddler 2. It also includes some performance enhancing tips such as how to create custom flags to deal with critical performance issues or how to enhance ‘first-visit’ performance. Split Screen
5. Cuzillion: Cuzillion is a high-performance web development tool that enables you to trace how various elements of a web page interact with one another. The main aim of this tool is to test, check, modified and update web pages before you decide upon the final structure of your web page. The tool also provides you with important suggestions and troubleshooting tips for improving your website’s performance.