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saj0577
April 15th, 2008, 03:17 AM
A while back i brought Macromedia Studio 8.
I do quite a lot of web development and do most of it with just gedt and code it all by hand. A lot of big companies that do it dont do it all by hand but have programs to do the basics for them, so i was thinking of making use and installing my Dreamweaver license onto my system and use that to help with the web development and make it simpler.

What do people think about using applications like dreamweaver?
Pros?Cons?


Saj

LaRoza
April 15th, 2008, 03:36 AM
I hand code everything.

I write code in a way that is reusable and reduces redundant typing (I rarely write raw XHTML) by using server side scripts.

saj0577
April 15th, 2008, 03:37 AM
Yeah im the same i hand code everything at the minute but I am tempted to use DW for the layout of web pages and then edit the code by source for the rest of it to get it all to work.

Saj

LaRoza
April 15th, 2008, 03:43 AM
Yeah im the same i hand code everything at the minute but I am tempted to use DW for the layout of web pages and then edit the code by source for the rest of it to get it all to work.

Saj

I never used Dreamweaver, but I have seen generated code before.

The best I have seen bordered on barely usable. From what I see, everything is inline and difficult to use.

It is better, IMO, to take the time to make stylesheets that can be reused easily and apply it to a site.

My site is small (it is the Learn to Program link in my sig), but the code is very clean. There is no mixing of CSS and scripts with the XHTML.

SunnyRabbiera
April 15th, 2008, 03:53 AM
Kompozer :p

Ovinomacner
April 15th, 2008, 04:15 AM
Quanta Plus is my choice of poison and 90% of the time I am in the code. That other 10% is in the live preview.:)

saj0577
April 15th, 2008, 04:23 AM
LaRoza. It says p= in the address bar when click a link
Do you just have a while statament, While p=home show information for home page etc..
?



Saj

mr.propre
April 15th, 2008, 08:55 AM
Dreamweaver sometimes for xhtml, but only in code view.
No wysiwyg editor for me :KS

But the php color codes are really ugly in dreamweaver so for that I use a different program: gedit, quanta plus, geany, ...

PartisanEntity
April 15th, 2008, 09:02 AM
Hand written here too. It gives you much more control, allows for tight coding and avoides bloating. I use gedit.

beercz
April 15th, 2008, 09:04 AM
Always by hand.

jespdj
April 15th, 2008, 09:08 AM
I write (X)HTML and CSS by hand, because I have the feeling that with any WYSIWYG HTML/CSS editor I've used the code quickly becomes messy.

I use gedit, Geany or Eclipse to edit (X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other files for my websites.

saj0577
April 15th, 2008, 01:29 PM
Looks like il stick with good old gedit then unless i can find a good one thats lightweight and a good syntax.

Saj

ice60
April 15th, 2008, 04:58 PM
here are some links for customising gedit and firefox, i like them, but i'm not sure anyone else does lol
http://www.micahcarrick.com/09-29-2007/gedit-html-editor.html
http://www.micahcarrick.com/09-28-2007/firefox-web-development.html
http://live.gnome.org/Gedit/Plugins
http://www.eng.tau.ac.il/~atavory/gedit-plugins/html-tidy/
http://stylizedweb.com/2008/02/07/30-best-firefox-add-ons/

spamzilla
April 15th, 2008, 06:34 PM
I use Dreamwaver (it finally runs in WINE!!) but that's only because I don't understand the code, or know how to write it. Believe it or not, I have made and run a few sites ;)

Tundro Walker
April 15th, 2008, 07:17 PM
It really depends on what everyone else is doing.

If everyone else touching your code will be hand-writing the code, too, then don't bother with DreamWeaver.

But if you have some "noobs" who will maintain parts of your hand-written code using DreamWeaver, just develop it in DreamWeaver.

These pre-canned coding tools have a knack of re-formatting and bloating up hand-coded brilliance.

DreamWeaver is one of the nicer WYSIWYG tools on the market, though. You can easily mock up how a site will look for early feedback and visual design changes. You can even hammer out the whole site in DW, then go in and tweak the code by hand later if you want.

It's a useful and functional program, but really, like I said, using it would depend on if others are going to use it or do hand-coding like you.

rickyjones
April 15th, 2008, 08:22 PM
It depends on the website.

If the site will be mainly static HTML then I use the code portion of Dreamweaver to create the initial template + layout. I leave one or two editable regions, depending on the site, and then apply this template to my other pages. Then I use the design view to edit the editable regions and will switch to code view if I need to fix a layout glitch.

If the site will be dynamic then I use code view 100%. In effect I'm doing it all by hand.

Sincerely,
Richard

saj0577
April 15th, 2008, 09:25 PM
It really depends on what everyone else is doing.

If everyone else touching your code will be hand-writing the code, too, then don't bother with DreamWeaver.

But if you have some "noobs" who will maintain parts of your hand-written code using DreamWeaver, just develop it in DreamWeaver.

These pre-canned coding tools have a knack of re-formatting and bloating up hand-coded brilliance.

DreamWeaver is one of the nicer WYSIWYG tools on the market, though. You can easily mock up how a site will look for early feedback and visual design changes. You can even hammer out the whole site in DW, then go in and tweak the code by hand later if you want.

It's a useful and functional program, but really, like I said, using it would depend on if others are going to use it or do hand-coding like you.

What about if im the only one touching the code.

Saj

klange
April 15th, 2008, 10:27 PM
Hand-code. I don't want ugly code in my web apps, so I write it myself.

Barrucadu
April 15th, 2008, 10:32 PM
Hand code in mousepad. If I want a preview of what each change does - I imagine it. What use is making a website if you don't understand it?

original_jamingrit
April 15th, 2008, 10:35 PM
vim can be wonderful with html, with auto-indenting and colour-coding.

Tundro Walker
April 16th, 2008, 01:52 AM
What about if im the only one touching the code.

Saj

If you're doing this for a business, then you will never be the only one touching your code. You may move on to another job, and someone gets stuck with your code. You may get busy with new projects, and the boss can't afford you spending time on the web code, so they pawn the project onto someone else. In a business, work is never done in a bubble. I always try to think "what will happen to this if I get hit by a bus tomorrow?" Morbid, yes, but it makes you think big-picture.

If you're doing this for yourself, then screw it, just hand code. DreamWeaver and it's ilk may speed up development, but they bloat up the code, too. Also, not so sure how well they do with making modular code. Sucks having a bunch of redundant code in a project because the development tool is too stupid to create and re-use code chunks.

saj0577
April 16th, 2008, 02:01 AM
Cheers, welll anyone else who I get to work with me will also be a good scripter with hand code so I think il spend a while longer and code it all by hand with gedit with those nice add ons suggest in a post before. :)

Thanks everyone
Saj