Bruce's Web Lab
Software for Web Site Development
What's Here:
- Recommended software
- Before You Download Anything Else...
- Software Sites
1. Recommended Software for Developing Web Sites
Here are a few programs used by web site developers:
For Macintosh Users
- HTML Editor: BBEdit Lite
- BBEdit Lite is a free demo version of BBEdit, a very powerful text editor for Macintosh, by Bare Bones Software of Bedford, MA. One of the great things about BBEdit is that it accepts Extensions, which are supplemental commands that can be added to its standard feature set. These extensions automate much of the work of writing HTML. Here's a direct download of the set I recommend, Carles Bellver's BBEdit HTML Extensions. Instructions included. Downloads in BinHex (.hqx) format. Yes, "Carles" is the correct spelling; his site is in Spain -- the
es in the server name nti.uji.es/ is the Internet domain for Spain.
- Graphics Utility: GraphicConverter
- An excellent shareware graphics utility application for Macs. Thorsten Lemke has done an excellent job creating a powerful graphics utility. Pay him his shareware fee if you keep using GraphicConverter!
- FTP Client: Fetch
- Fetch is one of the most popular Mac ftp clients. Here's a direct download from Dartmouth College.
For Windows Users
- HTML Editor: HomeSite
- HomeSite is an HTML editor for Windows, by Allaire. HomeSite has been recommended to me by by several HTML developers who are familiar with the capabilities of BBEdit for the Mac. This is a shareware program, meaning that you'll need to register and pay a small fee to continue using it.
- Graphics Utility: LView
- A excellent shareware graphics utility application for Windows.
- FTP Client: WS_FTP
- One of the most popular Windows ftp clients is WS_FTP. There are free and commercial versions available from Ipsitch (click on the Download Evaluations button).
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2. Before You Download Anything Else...
The links below are for downloading software files to your machine. Files you download from the Internet are often compressed and encoded. You'll need software to expand and decode these files.
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3. Software Sites
One of the essential skills to acquire as an Internet site developer is finding and choosing the software tools you'll use. The most current tools are often found on the Internet itself, and the best of them are often available for free ("freeware") or a small charge after a free trial ("shareware"). So, how do you find them, and how do you know what's current?
Fortunately, there are online sites featuring collections of useful software, with reviews or comments to help you choose the best applications for your needs, type of machine, and budget. When you find what you want at one of these sites, you simply click a hyperlink and the program will download to your computer.
What to Look For at a Software Download Site
When you go to a software site, the first thing you should look for is an indication that the site is kept up-to-date. You might see a "last modified" date or a copyright notice at the bottom of the web page; if it doesn't show this year, the software listed might not be current.
Next, make sure that the site has software that works on the type of computer (Windows 3.1/95/98, Mac, UNIX, etc.) you're using.
Once you're sure that the site is current and features software correct for your computer, follow the site's links or searching instructions to get the program you want.
Cruzio, a Santa Cruz Internet Service Provider, has a good listing of software archives that review and link to many types of software. Check it out.
Now: The Mega-Site
Recently, some mega-sites have appeared that attempt to provide software downloads of all kinds for all types of computers. In the middle of 1997 I noticed that several of the download collections I'd been relying for some time had gone stale, and I started using the mega-sites.
The site that I use the most is www.download.com, and for now that is what I recommend. Download.com is a part of C/NET, a large Web site featuring all kinds of interesting and time-wasting stuff about computers and the Internet. Another site C/NET maintains is called www.shareware.com, which specializes in shareware, while download.com has a broader range of offerings. C/NET is very active, so I expect they'll keep it updated.
Speaking of being updated, these notes are current for February, 1999. Active web sites tend to churn, if not constantly then at least frequently, so be ready to find things somewhat different from what I describe.
Using download.com
When you come into download.com, the site automatically detects the type of computer you're operating. [If you want to switch, look in the column along the left margin for links that take you to Windows if you're in Mac and vice versa.]
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To find software,
- click on one of the categories listed, or
- type the name or type of software into the Quick Search box and click the "Search" button.
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Copy of a section of download.com, with thanks to C/NET |
Either method will bring you a list of programs to download. If you click on one, you'll get the download page for that program, which has a short description of what it does, its file size (which affects downloading time), and an indication of the reliability of the download connection from the particular Internet server the program is stored on.
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