Webdev on a Mac Pt. 1
Posted on: 02.07.2008
There are just a few, albeit big, things that are keeping me from fully switching to Mac OS X for web development.
A decent CSS editor:
I do all of my CSS coding by hand. The problem is that I’m OCD and I like all of my CSS to follow the same rules and format. Thankfully, there’s a wonderful CSS editor called TopStyle that beats my OCD into submission with a single keyboard shortcut for a command called Style Sweeper. Style Sweeper follows a strict set of user configurable rules to clean up CSS code.
You can use it to create “compressed” code or convert hard to read compressed CSS into multi-line, easier to read code. CSSEdit is on the right track with its code format preference but there needs to be more options.
To me, the biggest time saver that TopStyle offers is its built in color picker. You can right click on any named, rgb, or hex value to bring up a color picker to change that selected color to any color on screen. TopStyle will then convert the color you pick, using the rules set in its preferences, and replace the color inline.
No, this is not even close to CSSEdit or Coda’s use of OS X’s built in color panel. Coda makes life a little easier by being able to drag and drop colors from said color panel into your code, but it’s still a couple more steps than it needs to be.
Sadly, TopStyle is only available on Windows and is horribly overpriced.
A usable version of Fireworks:
Why on earth does Adobe feel that they can’t port the superior Windows version of Fw over to OS X? One-window environments are the way to go.
The biggest complaint I have about Mac software is developers over use of floating panels. Floating panels are obtrusive and a hindrance to productivity. When Macromedia decided to make all of their Windows version Studio apps “one-window” environments my productivity increased tenfold.
