Top developer tools and services that you should check out

Getting the right tool for the job on hand doesn’t have to be difficult. The best of the bunch is presented to you on a silver platter, and all you have to do is pick one or more. Your choice is going to match your needs.

New and improved software development tools and services are appearing on the market. So, finding what you need shouldn’t be difficult. The problem lies in the numbers. There are too many to have to search through, investigate, and test. There are many factors involved with what makes up a good tool, or the right tool. That fact complicates matters.

What if the best tools are placed right in front of you? It gets easier — as you’ll discover.

1. Elementor

Web designers have long considered Elementor to be a smashing success. So much so, that it’s easy to forget that this open-source software tool was created with developers in mind.

It’s not all that surprising that open source tools and software development practices go hand in hand given the importance of extensibility and contributions to the package from those who know best — the Elementor team and your fellow developers.

Elementor’s full stack of software development solutions includes:

• CSS Optimization and Custom CSS — where CSS files are externally loaded, compiled, and minimized for optimal load times; and custom CSS is easily incorporated into any page or Elementor widget.
• CLI Integration — where tasks can easily be triggered with the Command Line
• Request Parameters —where data can be tracked throughout a site, and
• Rollback — where version control is simplified by allowing you to go back to earlier versions.

Elementor invites you to sign up and to contribute to their open source solution by submitting your ideas and accessing Beta versions to help the team find and fix bugs and resolve other issues.

2. And Co

If you believe the time you spend on invoicing is taking way too much time away from your development activities, AND.CO is the answer to your problem. AND.CO is a smart invoicing app that will create your invoices for you, notify you when they’ve been viewed or paid, and remind your clients when a payment is due or if it is overdue.

AND.CO even deposits payments in your bank. Since this software solution can utilize billable hours time tracking data as the basis for creating invoices, you don’t have to lift a finger from the start of the process until money is deposited into your account.

Since you can sync AND.CO’s mobile app across all your devices, you can stay on top of your billings and cash flow and even generate invoices when you’re out and about.

3. Atom

One of the joys of having a flexible and extensible open source tool at your fingertips is it often offers new and better features to work with; which is important for developers. Atom is precisely that type of a software development tool.

This open source desktop tool, running on an Electron framework, can be used on OS X, Linux, and Windows to develop cross-platform apps. Atom offers access to thousands of open source packages; making it not simply an extensible tool, but a super-extensible one; plus, you can create your own packages from scratch.

It also serves as a collaboration tool. When you are able to collaborate with other developers, wonderful things can happen, and Atom’s collaboration features make working with others to create code no more difficult than coding on your own.

4. Testim

Testim uses AI to author tests, execute them, and minimize the maintenance of automated functional tests. By doing so, you can use Testim to conduct thousands of tests over multiple browsers and get test results in minutes.

Testing can be conducted in the Testim cloud or on-premise. Signup for a free trial to see what Testim can do for you.

5. TMS Outsource

TMS Outsource proves the argument that outsourcing development tasks can have multiple advantages over performing them in-house. You’ll typically save money, partner with an experienced team of developers and project managers, realize on-time deliveries, and find yourself being able to focus more heavily on your core business responsibilities.

TMS Outsource personnel adhere to SCRUM development methodologies and are skilled in multiple coding languages.

6. InvoiceBerry

Sending out invoices with InvoiceBerry instead of performing the tasks yourself is as easy as it gets. Select any of the professionally-designed invoice templates, insert your logo, the billing information, your client’s email, and let InvoiceBerry do the rest.

Customers can pay via PayPal, WePay, or Stripe, and you can always view unpaid invoices on the InvoiceBerry dashboard. Try this invoicing service free for 30 days.

What makes a good developer’s tool?

Developers are looked upon as being skilled, hardworking people and their ability to write good, clean code bears that out. Yet, these skilled developers don’t spend all their time writing code. They spend an appreciable amount of their time looking for and trying out development tools that best serve their purposes.

Development tools come in all types of forms and flavors. To name a few for example, there are code editors, GUI design tools, assemblers, debuggers, and performance analysis tools.

There are tools to support project management, source control, and issue tracking. They come along with cloud tools and prototyping tools.

Whatever the tool selected, it must be useful. It often has to integrate with other tools to perform its intended duties. Also, it needs to have a gentle learning curve.

As you can see, finding exactly the right tool isn’t always an easy task.

Conclusion

Fortunately, you don’t have to work your way through hundreds of tools or services. You can find what you need for a specific task or project, to streamline your project workflows, or to keep you doing what you do best.

One or two of the products or services described in this article could make your day. You can go a long way toward keeping your development efforts humming right along throughout 2019 and beyond.