In this episode, we're going to look at five open-source tools for web developers. These tools are all cross-platform, which means no matter who you are working with or collaborating with, you can all open the same files and work with the same workflow.
This is really important for the agencies, where they have staff and contractors from all around the world working with them on multiple projects. Stay tuned for these five awesome free and open-source cross-platform tools.
1. Geany
The first tool in our armory is Geany. This may be considered a basic IDE, but it's really powerful under the hood. It's super lightweight and has a plethora of plugins. It works across all sorts of operating systems, and I've even successfully used this IDE on the Raspberry Pi when working with Python projects.
Extremely powerful, extremely lightweight, and works everywhere. It's hard to get enough of Geany. The dark mode looks fantastic, and there are tons of themes to choose from as well. While some may consider this a basic interface, it works ridiculously well for me and for our team.
2. GitKraken
If you are managing your source through Git—maybe in GitHub or Bitbucket—then you want to be able to handle version control, pull requests, and push requests. While you can do all this via the command line, as a visual person, some rely on GitKraken.
Some people use GitKraken cross-platform and across the business to commit their changes and keep track of what is going on. The tree view, as it helps us to see the overall process and progress of the projects.
3. FileZilla
No matter how old I get, FTP will continue to reign—of course, SFTP is recommended. I use FileZilla to transfer all of our files. Personally, I use the pro version to support the project and upload to some of the cloud services it supports.
Most of the teams happily uses the free, open-source version of FileZilla. It’s cross-platform and allows us to manage file transfers efficiently.
4. XAMPP
As a developer, I want to test my code and changes quickly without constantly uploading and testing online. I use XAMPP (or is it ZAMP? You tell me in the comments!).
XAMPP allows you to fire up a simple PHP/MySQL server that you can use to install any PHP application. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. You can set it up as a local host server for developers in your office to connect to or even via VPN. It’s a versatile tool for local development and testing.
5. Docker
Finally, we have Docker. Docker is like mini virtual operating systems that run on your machine using hardware virtualization. These containers allow you to run a wide range of different operating systems and applications.
For example, I use Docker to run a Linux-based search engine. It’s also great for running WordPress sites, Ubuntu servers, VPN setups, or Let’s Encrypt servers. Tons of pre-built Docker containers are available, and setting them up often requires just a single line of code.
Docker works on Mac, Linux, and Windows, making it a must-have tool for testing and deploying applications.
Closing Thoughts
If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a like, and follow, so you can never miss any of the new content. Let me know in the comments which tools you’ve heard of and which open-source tools you use in your agency. Let’s help each other out!
I’m also on LinkedIn and other social media, consider following me there.
Links to the open-source tools
Geany - https://www.geany.org/
GitKraken - https://www.gitkraken.com/
Filezilla - https://filezilla-project.org/
XAMPP - https://www.apachefriends.org
Docker - https://www.docker.com/
Thanks for your time!
Top comments (0)