More Toolbox Fun

Posted At : October 10, 2007 8:28 PM | Posted By : Jeff Fleitz
Related Categories: Tools
A couple weeks ago, Neil Middleton began creating an Ultimate CF Tools List, followed by a post today by Dana Kowalski, encouraging CF developers to share the list of tools / utilities they can't live without.  Since I haven't posted in eons, I decided to post some of the tools I use to get the ball rolling again. 

  • Eclipse as my main IDE, along with the more popular plugins in use by everybody  (CFEclipse, Aptana,  QuickREx)
  • Firefox, with all the toys, including ColdFire and Firebug.
  • FusionDebug as a debugger for CFMX6/7 work. I am using the CF 8 debugger for all new projects now.
  • TopStyle Pro- By Nick Bradbury of HomeSite fame.  I have been spending more time working with Aptana for CSS editing lately, but TopStyle is still one of the better CSS/HTML editors out there, although it  is going to die after one more release. 
  • Beyond Compare - There are many diff tools out there, this is my favorite
  • e Text Editor - TextMate for Windows; a nice little configurable editor that is still a little rough in some places, but works with a variety of languages.
  • PrimalScript - This used to be my main IDE/Editor, and I still use it occasionally.  It is mainly used for Monad scripting nowadays, but supports CF, ActionScript  and MXML, in addition to .NET language support. Very pricey nowadays and hard to justify unless you are in a hardcore Windows shop.
  •  xplorer2 - A Windows explorer replacement, which has a ton of features. What the Windows Explorer should have been.
  • Process Explorer - Windows task manager on steroids.  Will show you everything about every process running on your computer.  Free.
  •  WinRAR - Compression/archiving utility
  • Timeless Time and Expense - Project Time and expense tracking
  • CSS Tab Designer - Free utility for generating css menu sets
  • SnagIt - Capture Utility
  • TaskSwitchXP - A better Windows alt-tab manager
If you develop on Windows, you owe it to yourself to check out Scott Hanselman's annual Ultimate Developer and Power User's Tool List, which may keep you busy for hours.

I am curious as to what the Mac users have in their tool kits?

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Sapien Releases PrimalScript 4.1

Posted At : November 14, 2006 7:25 PM | Posted By : Jeff Fleitz
Related Categories: Tools
Sapien Technologies announced ealier today the release of PrimalScript 4.1, a world class scripting editor and IDE.  New features include extensive support for Windows PowerShell (codename "Monad"), Microsoft's new command line shell and scripting language, as well as other major enhancements. 

While mainly focused on Windows scripting chores, PrimalScript supports over 40 languages, including CFML, ActionScript, Flex, Ruby, PHP, and Python.  I have been using the Enterprise edition of PrimalScript for quite a while, and it is a the best IDE I have ever used in terms of features and speed.  The Enterprise version features a top-notch XML editor/validator, Visual Query Builder and FTP client, with one click deployment to multiple hosts.

I moved from PS4 to Eclipse/CFEclipse a couple months ago, after Adobe released the CF RDS tools with FlexBuilder.  I had also been playing with Subversion/Subclipse for source control, which PrimalScript didn't support. However, things have changed and I plan on taking a look again.  Some of the features I am personally excited to try include:

  • CVS/Subversion support - You are now not limited to just support for VSS as your source control system
  • File Histories - This is a poor man's source control system PrimalScript keeps mulitple versions of your project files without the use of  a source control system
  • Task Manager - I had asked for this one personally, nice to see they delivered. Provides the same type of task/todo list support found in Eclipse/CFEclipse

I will go into a full review and comparison at a later date, but if you are using Windows as your development platform, you should give PrimalScript 4.1 a try.

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