Mac and web development?

[Serqet]

Hi Guys,

I was wondering is it possible to design websites and do code using a Mac? Reason i ask is due to the fact that you can't get Visual Studio for Mac. I've heard i can use Dreamweaver but i've also heard that's a bit of a crap way to design websites as it's a bit of a cheat.

Anyone here use a Mac?

What would the cons be ?

Thanks!

Interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Drake2007]

How is Dreamweaver no less of a "cheat" than Visual Studio?

 

[seymour7]

I don't use a mac, but I tried Coda and Textmate. Cost money, but are really nice apps.

 

[Serqet]

How is Dreamweaver no less of a "cheat" than Visual Studio?

I could be wrong as i've never actually seen Visual Studio before. But doesn't Dreamweaver put all the code in for you? So you just design and don't have to worry about the code at all? I am new to this so i could be wrong. Please correct me if i am.

 

[Serqet]

I don't use a mac, but I tried Coda and Textmate. Cost money, but are really nice apps.

So you would use them if you were on a mac?

*goes to search*

 

[Serqet]

Also do you guys think it would cause problems when websites designed on a mac were viewed on a pc?

 

[SYNERGY]

You're designing for the browser which interprets the code. Not the OS.

 

[seymour7]

So you would use them if you were on a mac?

*goes to search*

Yes I would. In fact, I know quite a few people that use them and love it.

 

[Serqet]

You're designing for the browser which interprets the code. Not the OS.

So the OS would not effect things at all?

 

[seymour7]

Also do you guys think it would cause problems when websites designed on a mac were viewed on a pc?

Use http://browsershots.org/ to test cross-operating systems.

 

[Drake2007]

I could be wrong as i've never actually seen Visual Studio before. But doesn't Dreamweaver put all the code in for you? So you just design and don't have to worry about the code at all? I am new to this so i could be wrong. Please correct me if i am.

It does put the html code in for you if that's what you're meaning. It won't write any PHP or ASP for you though. Where you'll see a difference is V.S. Web Developer is more for IIS webhosting.

You can download Visual Studio Express from MS.

 

[Serqet]

I see!

 

[SYNERGY]

So the OS would not effect things at all?

Nope wouldn't as long as you're using Opera in both etc

 

[Serqet]

Nope wouldn't as long as you're using Opera in both etc

*nods* understood. thanks for the feedback

 

[dequadin]

Just remember Opera has less than 3% browser share, you'll definitly need to test in FF & IE

 

[FarligOpptreden]

Just remember Opera has less than 3% browser share, you'll definitly need to test in FF & IE

Yup - I also tend to find some minor layout inconsistencies between Opera and FF/IE. I also test for Chrome and Safari though...

 

[dequadin]

For me the Web Developement is a numbers game:

Here are the latest browser statistics

April 2009
IE7 23.2%
IE6 15.4%
IE8 3.5%
FireFox 47.1%
Chrome 4.9%
Safari 3.0%
Opera 2.2%

IE Total: 42.1%
IE + FF = 89.2

So if you just get it working in these two browsers you are compatible with 90% of the market. But because M$ is so nice it's actually four browsers. Then I'd worry about the smaller guys.

Point I'm trying to make is I wouldn't use Opera as my main development browser!

 

[Raithlin]

Top web devs agree: develop for Firefox, tweak for Webkit/Opera, hack for IE last. Makes for a more streamlined approach (simpler too).

Also, many web designers love their Macs, so it can't be that bad. I'd love to give it a try sometime myself.

 

[GreGorGy]

I use BBEdit to write the code. Then preview through the usual suspects and definitely go for aforementioned approach: Make for FF, tweak for WebKit, hack for IE. Also, when things are just not working out the way I think they should, I open the page in iCab which tells me with greater accuracy where syntax errors etc are.

DW is for WYSIWYG designers last time I saw it - load of rubbish really but I suppose some folk like it. I prefer hard-coding and knowing exactly what my page instructions say.

 

[Raithlin]

I prefer hard-coding and knowing exactly what my page instructions say.

+1: I code (literally), and alt-tab to FF/Chrome/IE to see the results. Actually, I use the built-in previews within Aptana to check results, so it's even faster.