Web development is reaching a new high with each passing year with various tools at disposal for web developers. These tools have helped developers develop powerful and popular modern-day web applications like Amazon Prime, Netflix, and AirBnB. End products like these have increased expectations from web developers.
Web development tools can be divided into different categories such as code/text editors, web application frameworks, front-end frameworks, API and testing clouds tools, and web design tools.
Hence, every web developer must have the right web development tools in his toolbox. In this article, we’re going to look at the best Linux tools for web developers.
Code/Text Editors
Code/Text editors are a very important tool in web development. If you have a perfect editor with support for web technologies, it will eventually help you develop high-quality web applications. A perfect editor will serve you for a lifetime.
Vim
Vim is my favorite code editor and the one I use the most. It is one of the best software programming and web development tools out there. It is a simple yet reliable terminal best code editor. It is highly configurable web development tool which will make web developer feel at home.
Vim code editor supports all the programming and mark-up languages such as Python, C#, C, C++, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. It is a feature-rich tool with features like syntax highlighting, DirectX support, mouse gestures, and many more.
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install vim
Atom
Atom is a free and open-source cross-platform text editor for program and web development. It is a modern tool with a modern user interface that is very easy to use and highly customizable. It is embedded with the GitHub package, which helps you work directly with Git and GitHub.
It also comes with HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and Node.js integration under the hood. It runs on an Electron framework, which lets you develop cross-platform applications for web technologies. You will find this tool very useful with support for every web development tool a web developer needs.
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install atom
Web Application Frameworks
Whether you’re building a website, web service, or web applications, web application frameworks are very important ingredients in the procedure. These are nothing but the software libraries designed to build powerful web applications.
Django
Django is a Python-based web framework that ensures rapid development and clean design. It is a free and open-source web framework that is also most secure in competition.
Django makes it easier for web developers to build web apps more quickly and with less code. Django community is backed by Python community, which ensures thousands of useful packages and utilities.
ReactJS
ReactJS is a JavaScript library for building creative user interfaces and UI components. It makes the task of designing the user interface much easier for web developers. It is created and maintained by Facebook and a community of individual developers.
It is a great tool that can be used in the development of a single-page application or mobile application. It is one of the most flexible and efficient web application frameworks out there.
Front-End Frameworks
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear front-end framework? CSS, right? Well, front-end frameworks are the packages that contain standardized scripts or code.
Bootstrap
Bootstrap is a free and open-source CSS framework that encourages high-quality front-end web development. It is the most popular HTML, CSS, and JS library out there.
It is a great tool for developers, which is very useful and necessary. It has got everything that a professional web developer needs.
Material
Material is one of the most popular front-end frameworks, and Google also backs it. As it is based on ReactJS, you might find it easier to integrate with ReactJS in the development cycle.
The components offered in this framework make it easier to develop and design responsive material design for web and mobile applications.
API Testing Tools
Testing is very important in aspects of the web development cycle. Having the perfect tool at the disposal makes the whole process easier and faster.
SoapUI
SoapUI special tool dedicated to API testing, which lets you test web services and applications easily. It is supported and backed by SmartBear.
It comes in two packages; one is free to use, and the other is a Pro package with some premium features.
Package Managers
It is very important to offer post-deployment services like installation, upgrades/updates, and configurations. This process is made easier with the help of package managers.
NPM
NPM is a default package manager NodeJS, a JavaScript runtime environment. It is a very powerful and popular package manager out there used by many popular web applications and services.
Yarn
Yarn is a fast, popular, and reliable package manager out there. It had offered great competition to NPM, and for some time, it had led the race. It is built by Facebook and very easy to get started with.
These are the best Linux tools that web developers will find very important while developing a web application or service. Have any queries or suggestions? Feel free to ping us at @linuxhint and @SwapTirthakar.
