You'll need a few tools for these lessons. All of the tools recommended here are free. This page is biased to Windows, though some of the tools run on other platforms.
- A Web browser
I'll use Firefox for all the lessons. There are lots of useful add-ons like Firebug (a JavaScript debugger), MeasureIt (for measuring things on the screen), Web Developer (with lots of useful features), and ColorZilla (for picking color codes from the screen).
- Web and database servers
It often helps to run the Apache Web server and MySQL database server on your own PC. You can write and debug your sites and programs locally, then upload everything to your hosted server when you're ready. I like XAMPP.
There is a page on why XAMPP is a Good Thing.
- A file upload tool
You'll need one of these to get files to your Web server. For Windows, I recommend WinSCP. Another good tool is FileZilla.
There is a tutorial on using WinSCP to upload files to a Web site. Make sure you upload to the right directory, like public_html.
- An editor
You'll need an editor to create Web pages, style sheets, programs, and other things. For the Web, I recommend Aptana. Notepad++ is a good general purpose editor. If you run Linux, Quanta Plus is a good Web editor.
- An image viewer and converter
IrfanView is good for this.
- Graphics editors
There are different editors for different purposes. The GIMP is a powerful raster editor, for photos and such. Paint.NET does similar things. It's easier to use, but not as powerful. OpenOffice Draw is a useful vector editor for line drawings, that can then be saved as raster images.
- Compression tool, like 7-Zip. There's a guide available.
Not every computer on campus has the right applications, and they are not all configured in the right way. If you want, buy a USB drive ($10-$20) and put the programs you need for this class on that device.
Some of the programs will run directly from a USB device without any problems. Others will require special configuration. When there is a problem running software from a USB stick, the problem usually has to do with the registry. The registry is a database of software settings Windows keeps on each PC. Some installation programs write data to the registry. So even if you install the software on a USB drive, when you take the drive to another computer, that computer won't have the settings you need in its registry.
The usual way around this is to use software that does not use the registry at all, but keeps its configuration data in its own directory.
Notepad++ and IrfanView are portable. So are XAMPP and WinSCP. Others are more difficult, but can be made portable. Sites like http://portableapps.com/ can help you find software that you can run from a USB stick. Also check http://portableapps.com/, this page, and http://www.portablefreeware.com/. This page says you can run Aptana from a USB stick.
A question: what would happen if you lose your drive?
- Add a file called "i belong to.txt", "read me.txt" or something that contains your contact information.
- Don't store passwords on the drive, e.g., the FTP password to your Web host.
- Backup the drive occasionally. This will be easier if you organize the files. Make a new directory for each project.