While working in the web these past few years, I’ve come to establish a set of tools and platforms I like to use when creating web sites. So here is that list, of well established and new players. I’m always looking for new tools and libraries to play with, so feel free to let me know what you use.
Web Hosting
There is the area where I tend to have the least amount of luck. That being said I have had some success with these guys:
- Host Gator – I haven’t been with them long enough to say for sure, but they have had the best reliability and features with services I’ve used so far. They’re relatively inexpensive too!
- Linode – Really fast, really flexible, really cheap…. I’m in love! Well not really, but Linode is an awesome VPS hosting solution. I have had zero complaints so far.
Web Platform Frameworks
- WordPress – WordPress is by far my favorite platform for blog-centered websites, primarily because it is packed with feature and development is hoppin’. I haven’t delved far into customizing it or theming it, but the little I’ve done has been promising.
- CakePHP – For custom web applications, or anything beyond a static site, CakePHP is the easiest, fastest, and cleanest way to get something from paper to prototype quickly. I’m currently on a major project using CakePHP and I love how quickly I can make changes to the design and database appear in the product. I haven’t seen how the framework stands the test of a production site yet, but for development, CakePHP is king.
Libraries/Tools
- JQuery – This award winning javascript libraries is probably the item on this list I’ve used the longest. I first began using javascript libraries a couple of years ago with mootools. While mootools was great, I quickly found the power and flexibility of JQuery to far more appealing, and I’ve used it ever since.
There are a few other libraries I’m currently toying with, and there are still plenty of gaps in my tool-chain to be filled. These are the basics of my web development though. Enjoy!
